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. 1981 Aug;33(2):450–458. doi: 10.1128/iai.33.2.450-458.1981

Plasmid-chromosomal transition of genes important in staphylococcal enterotoxin B expression.

D W Dyer, J J Iandolo
PMCID: PMC350718  PMID: 6792077

Abstract

Experiments were performed to further elucidate the genetic mechanisms underlying the synthesis of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). Our laboratory has previously shown that, in strains of Staphylococcus aureus which harbor a 1.15-megadalton plasmid (pentB or pSN2), the plasmid appears to be required for SEB synthesis; in other S. aureus strains, designated chromosomal SEB producers, this 1.15-megadalton plasmid is conspicuously absent. We report here than in both Bacillus subtilis minicells and a coupled translational assay, pSN2 codes for a polypeptide of 18,000 daltons. This product is not immunologically reactive with purified anti-SEB globulin. Nevertheless, pSN2 is necessary but not sufficient for SEB synthesis in strains which harbor the plasmid. Further, the data provide a reasonable link between plasmid-bearing and chromosomal SEB producers: transformational analysis indicates that both require functions specified (in plasmid-bearing strains) by pSN2 for SEB synthesis. The combined genetic and biochemical data suggest that pSN2 is not the reservoir for the SEB structural gene, but that the pSN2-specific functions required for SEB synthesis are regulatory in nature.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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