AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lina, G.
Right arrow Articles by Vandenesch, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lina, G.
Right arrow Articles by Vandenesch, F.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Lina, G.
Right arrow Articles by Vandenesch, F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2003, p. 18-23, Vol. 69, No. 1
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.1.18-23.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bacterial Competition for Human Nasal Cavity Colonization: Role of Staphylococcal agr Alleles

Gerard Lina,1* Florent Boutite,2 Anne Tristan,1 Michèle Bes,1 Jerome Etienne,1 and Francois Vandenesch1

Centre National de Référence des Staphylocoques, INSERM E-0230,1 Clinical Pharmacology Unit, EA 643 & EZUS-APRET, IFR 62, Faculté de Médecine Laennec, Lyon, France2

Received 12 April 2002/ Accepted 30 September 2002

We examined the bacterial aerobic nasal flora of 216 healthy volunteers to identify potential competitive interactions among different species, with special emphasis on the influence of staphylococcal agr alleles. The Staphylococcus aureus colonization rate correlated negatively with the rate of colonization by Corynebacterium spp. and non-aureus staphylococci, especially S. epidermidis, suggesting that both Corynebacterium spp. and S. epidermidis antagonize S. aureus colonization. Most of the S. aureus and S. epidermidis isolates were agr typed by a PCR method. Only one S. aureus agr (agrSa) allele was detected in each carrier. Multiple logistic regression of the two most prevalent agrSa alleles (agr-1Sa and agr-2Sa) and the three S. epidermidis agr (agrSe) alleles showed a specific influence of the agr system. The results of this model did not support conclusions drawn from previous in vitro agr-specific cross-inhibition experiments. Our findings suggest that the agr alleles, which are strongly linked to the bacterial genetic background, may simply be associated with common biological properties—including mediators of bacterial interference—in the strains that bear them.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centre National de Référence des Staphylocoques, INSERM E-0230, IRF62, Faculté de Médecine Laennec, 7 rue Guillaume Paradin, 69372 Lyon cedex 08, France. Phone: 33 (0) 478 77 86 57. Fax: 33 (0) 478 77 86 58. E-mail: geralina{at}univ-lyon1.fr.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2003, p. 18-23, Vol. 69, No. 1
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.1.18-23.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2003 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.