Production of capsular polysaccharide does not influence Staphylococcus aureus vancomycin susceptibility.

Background: Diverse mechanisms (increased cell wall thickness, low cross linking, decreased autolysis, etc.) have been reported for Staphylococcus aureus strains with intermediate vancomycin susceptibility (VISA). This study was conducted to identify common mechanisms responsible for decreased vancomycin susceptibility in a VISA strain pair.

Influence of exercise order on repetition performance during low-intensity resistance exercise.

The purpose of this study was to compare repetition maximum performance and ratings of perceived exertion during resistance exercise sessions conducted at a low intensity (i.e., 20 RM) and in different exercise orders.

Genome sequence of Staphylococcus aureus VC40, a vancomycin- and daptomycin-resistant strain, to study the genetics of development of resistance to currently applied last-resort antibiotics.

The increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a problem of global importance. Here, we report the genome of S. aureus VC40, which is resistant to the last-resort antibiotics vancomycin and daptomycin.

Expression of the lantibiotic mersacidin in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42.

Unlabelled: Lantibiotics are small peptide antibiotics that contain the characteristic thioether amino acids lanthionine and methyllanthionine. As ribosomally synthesized peptides, lantibiotics possess biosynthetic gene clusters which contain the structural gene (lanA) as well as the other genes which are involved in lantibiotic modification (lanM, lanB, lanC, lanP), regulation (lanR, lanK), export (lanT(P)) and immunity (lanEFG). The lantibiotic mersacidin is produced by Bacillus sp.

Influence of ciprofloxacin and vancomycin on mutation rate and transposition of IS256 in Staphylococcus aureus.

In Staphylococcus aureus, the development of intermediate resistance to vancomycin is due to an accumulation of mutations. To elucidate the mechanisms involved here, a standard laboratory strain (S. aureus HG001) and a clinical MRSA mutator strain (S.

Plectasin, a fungal defensin, targets the bacterial cell wall precursor Lipid II.

Host defense peptides such as defensins are components of innate immunity and have retained antibiotic activity throughout evolution. Their activity is thought to be due to amphipathic structures, which enable binding and disruption of microbial cytoplasmic membranes. Contrary to this, we show that plectasin, a fungal defensin, acts by directly binding the bacterial cell-wall precursor Lipid II.

The lantibiotic mersacidin is a strong inducer of the cell wall stress response of Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: The lantibiotic mersacidin is an antimicrobial peptide of 20 amino acids that is ribosomally produced by Bacillus sp. strain HIL Y-85,54728. Mersacidin acts by complexing the sugar phosphate head group of the peptidoglycan precursor lipid II, thereby inhibiting the transglycosylation reaction of peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

The Shikani Optical Stylet: a useful adjunct to airway management in a neonate with popliteal pterygium syndrome.

The craniofacial abnormalities of popliteal pterygium syndrome present unique challenges to the pediatric anesthetist. Congenital fibrous bands between the maxilla and mandible limit mouth opening and the tongue may be fused to the palate. We describe the use of the Shikani Optical Stylet, a novel fiberoptic endoscope, in the airway management of a neonate with popliteal pterygium syndrome and syngnathia.

Living with an imperfect cell wall: compensation of femAB inactivation in Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Synthesis of the Staphylococcus aureus peptidoglycan pentaglycine interpeptide bridge is catalyzed by the nonribosomal peptidyl transferases FemX, FemA and FemB. Inactivation of the femAB operon reduces the interpeptide to a monoglycine, leading to a poorly crosslinked peptidoglycan. femAB mutants show a reduced growth rate and are hypersusceptible to virtually all antibiotics, including methicillin, making FemAB a potential target to restore beta-lactam susceptibility in methicillin-resistant S.

Tying the knot: making of lasso peptides.

In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Duquesne and colleagues [1] describe the biosynthetic machinery of microcin J25, an antibacterial peptide that adopts an exceptional three-dimensional structure resembling a knot. The dedicated enzymes, McjB and McjC, were identified and employed to produce this modification in vitro.

Role of insertion elements and yycFG in the development of decreased susceptibility to vancomycin in Staphylococcus aureus.

The glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin acts by binding to the D-alanyl-D-alanine terminus of the cell wall precursor lipid II in the cytoplasmic membrane. The purpose of this study was the identification of genes that might be involved in the vancomycin resistance mechanism. To this end, the expression profiles of two vancomycin intermediately resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) strains, the clinical isolate S.