Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII and Its Regulon Link Quorum Sensing, Stress Responses, Metabolic Adaptation, and Regulation of Virulence Gene Expression

Delphine Bronesky, Zongfu Wu, Stefano Marzi, Philippe Walter, Thomas Geissmann, Karen Moreau, François Vandenesch, Isabelle Caldelari, and Pascale Romby

Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IBMC, 67084 Strasbourg, France.

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII is one of the main intracellular effectors of the quorum-sensing system. It is a multifunctional RNA that encodes a small peptide, and its noncoding parts act as antisense RNAs to regulate the translation and/or the stability of mRNAs encoding transcriptional regulators, major virulence factors, and cell wall metabolism enzymes. In this review, we explain how regulatory proteins and RNAIII are embedded in complex regulatory circuits to express virulence factors in a dynamic and timely manner in response to stress and environmental and metabolic changes.