The Cell Wall Polymer Lipoteichoic Acid Becomes Nonessential in Staphylococcus aureus Cells Lacking the ClpX Chaperone

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is an important cell wall component of Gram-positive bacteria and a promising target for the development of vaccines and antimicrobial compounds against Staphylococcus aureus. Here we demonstrate that mutations in the conditionally essential ltaS (LTA synthase) gene arise spontaneously in an S. aureus mutant lacking the ClpX chaperone. Awide variety of ltaS mutations were selected, and among these, a substantial portion resulted in premature stop codons and other changes predicted to abolish LtaS synthesis.