Lysogenization of Staphylococcus aureus RN450 by phages ϕ11 and ϕ80α leads to the activation of the SigB regulon

Staphylococcus aureus is a major opportunistic pathogen that commonly forms biofilms on various biotic and abiotic surfaces. Also, most isolates are known to carry prophages in their genomes. With this in mind, it seems that acquiring a better knowledge of the impact of prophages on the physiology of S. aureus biofilm cells would be useful for developing strategies to eliminate this pathogen. Here, we performed RNA-seq analysis of biofilm cells formed by S. aureus RN450 and two derived strains carrying prophages ϕ11 and ϕ80α. The lysogenic strains displayed increased biofilm formation and production of the carotenoid pigment staphyloxanthin. These phenotypes could be partly explained by the differences in gene expression displayed by prophage-harboring strains, namely an activation of the alternative sigma factor (SigB) regulon and downregulation of genes controlled by the Agr quorum-sensing system, especially the decreased transcription of genes encoding dispersion factors like proteases. Nonetheless, spontaneous lysis of part of the population could also contribute to the increased attached biomass. Interestingly, it appears that the phage CI protein plays a role in orchestrating these phage-host interactions, although more research is needed to confirm this possibility. Likewise, future studies should examine the impact of these two prophages during the infection.
This work was funded by grants AGL2015-65673-R (Program of Science, Technology and Innovation 2013–2017), Proyecto Intramural CSIC 201770E016, and GRUPIN14-139 (FEDER EU funds, Principado de Asturias, Spain). L.F. was awarded a “Marie Curie Clarin-Cofund” grant. PG, BM and AR are members of the bacteriophage network FAGOMA and the FWO Vlaanderen funded “Phagebiotics” research community (WO.016.14).