MECHANISMS OF VIRULENCE GENE REGULATION IN S. AUREUS

The current proposal is focused on the interaction of two globally-acting regulators of virulence gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus: sar and agr. Specific aims of proposed research are: 1)define cis regulatory elements responsible for activation of agr genes by SarA; 2)define domains of SarA required for activation of agr transcription; 3)define interaction of SarA with agr regulatory elements at atomic level; 4)develop anti-staphylococcal inhibitors that target global regulatory factors.