Screening for purine transporters in S. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen and crucial part of its pathogenesis depends on its ability to acquire purines to cause disease. In this study, I screened a library of individual mutants under purine import-dependent conditions by inhibiting the purine biosynthesis using the pharmacological agents methotrexate and 6-mercaptopurine and supplementing inosine monophosphate and/or guanine as an exogenous purine source. I identified an ATP-Binding Cassette transporter mutant that failed to grow under the selective purine transport conditions. Further growth characterization of the mutant revealed that the growth defect was not due to an inability to transport purines but rather to downstream effects related to the toxicity of the purine biosynthesis inhibitors. A thorough understanding of S. aureus purine acquisition will allow for development of antimicrobials with prolonged effectiveness.

Name thesis:degree_name

M Sc

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Microbiology and Immunology

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Western Ontario

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Sonpaveerawong, Tothong

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David Heinrichs

• Staphylococcus aureus
• purine transporter
• mntC
• Mn homeostasis
• superoxide dismutase
• methotrexate
• 6-mercaptopurine

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/32085

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/32085