Target-gene mediated activation of phosphatase activity of sensor kinase in the SaeRS two-component system of Staphylococcus aureus

In bacterial two-component regulatory systems (TCSs), dephosphorylation of phosphorylated response regulator is essential for resetting the activated systems to the pre-activation state. However, in the SaeRS TCS, a major virulence TCS of Staphylococcus aureus, the mechanism for dephosphorylation of the response regulator SaeR has not been identified. Here we report that two auxiliary proteins from the sae operon, SaeP and SaeQ, form a ternary complex with the sensor kinase SaeS and activate the sensor kinase’s phosphatase activity. Efficient activation of the phosphatase activity of SaeS required the presence of both SaeP and SaeQ. When SaeP and SaeQ were expressed, the expression of coagulase, a sae target with low affinity to phosphorylated SaeR, was greatly reduced, while the expression of alpha-hemolysin, a sae target with high affinity to phosphorylated SaeR, was not, demonstrating a differential effect of SaePQ on sae target gene expression. When expression of SaePQ was abolished, most sae target genes were induced at an elevated level. Since the expression of SaeP and SaeQ is induced by SaeRS TCS, these results suggest that the SaeRS TCS returns to pre-activation state by a negative feedback mechanism. To examine the global effect of SaePQ on sae target gene expression, we treated the wild type strain of USA300-P23 and its P1 promoter mutant with HNP-1 and analyzed the transcription of sae target genes by microarray assays. WT and P1 cells were compared against a each other at the same time point and against a T=0 reference.