SaPI

SaPIs (Staphylococcus aureus  pathogenicity islands) are a family of ~15 kb mobile genetic elements resident in the genomes of the vast majority of S. aureus strains.[1][2] Much like bacteriophages, SaPIs can be transferred to uninfected cells and integrate into the host chromosome. Unlike the bacterial viruses, however, integrated SaPIs are mobilized by host infection with "helper" bacteriophages (specific SaPIs may require specific helper bacteriophages for mobilization, though Staphylococcus phage 80alpha appears to mobilize all known SaPIs). SaPIs are used by the host bacteria to co-opt the phage reproduction cycle for their own genetic transduction and also inhibit phage reproduction in the process.[2]

SaPIs can infect many strains that are resistant to phages and can readily be transferred to Listeria monocytogenes even though staphylococcal phages cannot grow in Listeria cells.[3] SaPIs occur infrequently in other staphylococcal species, but SaPI-like elements are common and widespread in other Gram-positive cocci.[4]

  1. ^ Lindsay JA, Ruzin A, Ross HF, Kurepina N, Novick RP (July 1998). "The gene for toxic shock toxin is carried by a family of mobile pathogenicity islands in Staphylococcus aureus". Molecular Microbiology. 29 (2): 527–43. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.00947.x. PMID 9720870. S2CID 30680160.
  2. ^ a b Novick RP, Christie GE, Penadés JR (August 2010). "The phage-related chromosomal islands of Gram-positive bacteria". Nature Reviews. Microbiology. 8 (8): 541–51. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2393. PMC 3522866. PMID 20634809.
  3. ^ Chen J, Novick RP (January 2009). "Phage-mediated intergeneric transfer of toxin genes". Science. 323 (5910): 139–41. Bibcode:2009Sci...323..139C. doi:10.1126/science.1164783. PMID 19119236. S2CID 38379547.
  4. ^ Martínez-Rubio R, Quiles-Puchalt N, Martí M, Humphrey S, Ram G, Smyth D, et al. (April 2017). "Phage-inducible islands in the Gram-positive cocci". The ISME Journal. 11 (4): 1029–1042. doi:10.1038/ismej.2016.163. PMC 5363835. PMID 27959343.