Short Communication: Influence of the content level of teichoic acids in the cells of Staphylococcus aureus on their adhesive properties

Abstract

Abstract. ?inukhin VV, Kochneva EV. 2017. Short Communication: Influence of the content level of teichoic acids in the cells of Staphylococcus aureus on their adhesive properties. Bioteknologi 14: 9-11. Teichoic acids (TA) are known to be factors of pathogenicity and virulence. They take part in binding the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus to epithelial cells of mucous membranes. The purpose of the research consisted in determining the content of TA in cells of clinical and reference strains of S.aureus and studying the relationship between these acids and adhesive properties of the cell wall. TA from cells of S.?ur?us were extracted by the addition of 10 % trichloroacetic acid to washings of agar cultures; followed by precipitation with cold ethanol, washing with acetone, ethanol, and ether in a desiccator. The content of TA was determined at a SP-46 by optic density (OD) with wavelength ? = 254 nm. When TA were isolated from cells of clinical and reference strains of S.?ur?us, it was revealed that their content levels differed. Values of the clinical strains were higher than those of the reference ones: respectively, (0.373 ± 0.016) versus (0.147 ± 0.014) OD units. This phenomenon could be explained by a high degree of aggressiveness of the clinical strains and could influence the activation of the complement that in its turn caused a systemic response resulting in a decrease of phagocytic activity. The course of the research revealed a direct correlation dependence of the content of TA upon adhesion values (r = 0.643). This dependence could affect the ability of microorganisms to form biofilms.