Gene expression profile analysis of Staphylococcus aureus treated with nisin. Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has already to be one of the most commonly identified bacteria that cause food poisoning. S. aureus colonization in humans can cause serious infections, toxinoses and life threatening diseases. The bacteriocin nisin has been extensively used as potential natural preservative in the food industry, but the overall transcriptional response mechanisms of S. aureus to nisin are still poorly understood. To detect the possible molecular mechanism of nisin against S. aureus, Affymetrix GeneChips were used to determine the global comparative transcription of S. aureus cells triggered by treatment with sub-inhibitory concentrations of nisin. Overall design: Staphylococcus aureus planktonic cells were exposed for 60 minutes to nisin at concentration of 4 μg/ml (1/2× MIC). 2 samples including 2 control samples are analyzed.