TABLE 1.
Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study
| Bacterial strain or plasmid | Relevant characteristic(s) | Source or reference |
|---|---|---|
| S. aureus strains | ||
| USA300 LAC | LAC strain of the USA300 CA-MRSA lineage | 25 |
| USA300 ΔhemB | USA300 in which hemB has been deleted; heme auxotroph, SCV phenotype | 26 |
| USA300 ΔhemB geh::pCL55 | USA300 hemB mutant with pCL55 integrated into the geh locus; heme auxotroph, SCV phenotype | 26 |
| USA300 ΔhemB geh::phemB | USA300 hemB mutant with phemB integrated into the geh locus, restoring wild-type phenotype | 26 |
| USA300 ΔhemB ΔagrA | USA300 in which hemB and agrA have been deleted; Agr defective, SCV phenotype | This study |
| USA300 ΔhemB ΔagrC | USA300 in which hemB and agrC have been deleted; Agr defective, SCV phenotype | This study |
| USA300 ΔhemB ΔRNAIII | USA300 in which hemB and RNAIII have been deleted; SCV phenotype and defective for most secreted cytolysins | 25 |
| USA300 ΔmenD | USA300 in which menD has been deleted; menadione auxotroph, SCV phenotype | 26 |
| USA300 ΔmenD geh::pCL55 | USA300 menD mutant with pCL55 integrated into the geh locus; menadione auxotroph, SCV phenotype | 26 |
| USA300 ΔmenD geh::pmenD | USA300 menD mutant with pmenD integrated into the geh locus, restoring wild-type phenotype | 26 |
| USA300 ΔagrA | USA300 in which agrA has been deleted; Agr-defective phenotype | 60 |
| USA300 ΔagrC | USA300 in which agrC has been deleted; Agr-defective phenotype | 60 |
| USA300 ΔagrC pCN34 | USA300 in which agrC has been deleted, transformed with pCN34 | 60 |
| USA300 ΔagrC pagrCWT | USA300 ΔagrC transformed with pagrCWT | 60 |
| USA300 ΔagrC pagrCM234L | USA300 ΔagrC transformed with pagrCM234L | This study |
| USA300 ΔagrC pagrCR238H | USA300 ΔagrC transformed with pagrCR238H | This study |
| USA300 ΔagrC pagrCQ305H | USA300 ΔagrC transformed with pagrCQ305H | This study |
| E. faecalis strains | ||
| JH2-2 | Gelatinase deficient | 75 |
| OG1X | Gelatinase deficient | 76 |
| Plasmids | ||
| pEmpty | pCL55 E. coli-S. aureus shuttle vector that inserts as a single copy at the staphylococcal geh locus; Ampr Chlr | 77 |
| phemB | pCL55 containing the hemB gene under the control of the hem operon promoter | 26 |
| pmenD | pCL55 containing the menD gene under the control of the men operon promoter | 26 |
| pCN34 | E. coli-S. aureus shuttle vector; Ampr Kanr | |
| pagrCWT | pCN34 containing a wild-type copy of agrC under the control of the P3 promoter, restoring wild-type Agr phenotype | 61 |
| pagrCM234L | pCN34 containing a mutated copy of agrC resulting in M234L substitution, under the control of the P3 promoter, conferring constitutive Agr phenotype | 61 |
| pagrCR238H | pCN34 containing a mutated copy of agrC resulting in R238H substitution, under the control of the P3 promoter, conferring constitutive Agr phenotype | 61 |
| pagrCQ305H | pCN34 containing a mutated copy of agrC resulting in Q305H substitution, under the control of the P3 promoter, conferring constitutive Agr phenotype | 61 |