Corneal pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus strain Newman.

Purpose: To determine the pathogenic role of gamma- and alpha-toxin in a rabbit model of Staphylococcus aureus keratitis.

Methods: S. aureus strains Newman (expressing gamma-toxin), Newman Delta(hlg) (deficient in gamma-toxin), Newman Delta(hlg)/pCU1 hlg(+) (chromosomal gamma-toxin-deficient mutant rescued by a plasmid encoding gamma-toxin), and Newman Delta(hla) (alpha-toxin-deficient) were intrastromally injected into rabbit corneas.