FIG 2.

Overproduction of Teg41 leads to increased hemolytic activity in S. aureus. (A) Hemolytic activity of S. aureus cells in human blood is increased upon Teg41 overproduction. Human blood samples were inoculated with S. aureus containing a vector control (wild-type [WT] pMK4) or Teg41-overproducing plasmid (WT pMK4_Teg41). At the time points indicated, the degree of hemolytic activity was determined. No difference in hemolysis was observed at early time points; however, a significant difference was observed at 4 h and 5 h postinoculation. No difference in bacterial numbers was detected at any of the time points. The strain background was TCH1516. (B) Hemolytic activity of cell-free S. aureus 15-h culture supernatants is increased upon Teg41 overproduction. The strain background was TCH1516. (C) Overproduction of Teg41 results in an increase in hemolytic activity in cell-free 15-h culture supernatants in various wild-type S. aureus backgrounds. Hemolytic activity in the wild-type strain containing the vector control (WT pMK4) is set at 100%, and the relative hemolytic activity of the Teg41-overproducing strain (WT pMK4_Teg41) is indicated as a percentage. All statistical analyses were performed using Student’s t test. Statistical significance is indicated by bars and asterisks as follows: *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.005.