TRANSCRIPTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS PENICILLIN-BINDING PROTEIN-2 GENE

Sequencing of the vicinity of the staphylococcal php2 gene and transcr iptional analysis by primer extension and promoter fusions were used t o show that php2 is part of an operon that also includes a gene with h igh homology to prfA of Bacillus subtilis. Two distinct promoters were identified directing transcription of php2 either alone or together w ith prfA, It was recently reported that transposon inactivation of php 2 causes a reduction in methicillin resistance, but complementation ex periments were not fully successful. We now show that introduction of the intact php2 gene with its two newly identified promoters into the chromosome of the transposon mutant resulted in the full recovery of h igh-level methicillin resistance.