Complementation of sulfide-induced growth phenotype and increased CoASSH levels in a ΔcstB S. aureus Newman strain by E. faecalis CoAPR. Representative growth curves for wild-type (WT), ΔcstB, and plasmid-complemented ΔcstB allelic S. aureus Newman strains on HHWm media in the presence of 0 mM and 0.2 mM NaHS added at t = 0 h. (a) WT (black squares), ΔcstB (blue squares), and ΔcstB:pCstB (red squares) strains in the presence of 0 mM NaHS; WT (black circles), ΔcstB (blue circles), and ΔcstB:pCstB (red circles) strains in the presence of 0.2 mM NaHS. (b) ΔcstB:pCoAPR (violet squares), ΔcstB:pCoAPRC42S (green squares), and ΔcstB:pCoAPRC508S (pink squares) strains in the presence of 0 mM NaHS; ΔcstB:pCoAPR (violet circles), ΔcstB:pCoAPRC42S (green circles), and ΔcstB:pCoAPRC508S (pink circles) strains in the presence of 0.2 mM NaHS. (c) Ratio of CoASSH to total CoA thiol for WT (black), ΔcstB (gray), ΔcstB:pCstB (red), and ΔcstB:pCoAPR (blue). Values represent mean ± SD of the mean derived from replicate experiments with statistical significance established using a paired t-test relative to wild-type strain under the same conditions (**p ≤ 0.01, *p ≤ 0.05).