Staphylococcus aureus golden pigment impairs neutrophil killing and promotes virulence through its antioxidant activity

• DOI: 10.1084/jem.20050846
• Publication Date: 2005-07-12T00:24:47Z
• Authors: George Y. Liu; Anthony Essex; John T. Buchanan; Vivekanand Datta; Hal M. Hoffman; John F. Bastian; Joshua Fierer; Victor Nizet
• Keywords: Mice, Knockout; 0301 basic medicine; Staphylococcus aureus; Adolescent; Virulence; Neutrophils; Streptococcus pyogenes; Brief Definitive Report; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Staphylococcal Infections; Carotenoids; Abscess; Antioxidants; 3. Good health; Disease Models, Animal; Mice; Oxidative Stress; 03 medical and health sciences; Animals; Humans; Female; Skin

Golden color imparted by carotenoid pigments is the eponymous feature of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Here we demonstrate a role of this hallmark phenotype in virulence. Compared with the wild-type (WT) bacterium, a S. aureus mutant with disrupted carotenoid biosynthesis is more susceptible to oxidant killing, has impaired neutrophil survival, and is less pathogenic in a mouse subcutaneous abscess model. The survival advantage of WT S. aureus over the carotenoid-deficient mutant is lost upon inhibition of neutrophil oxidative burst or in human or murine nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase–deficient hosts. Conversely, heterologous expression of the S. aureus carotenoid in the nonpigmented Streptococcus pyogenes confers enhanced oxidant and neutrophil resistance and increased animal virulence. Blocking S. aureus carotenogenesis increases oxidant sensitivity and decreases whole-blood survival, suggesting a novel target for antibiotic therapy.