Function and regulation of Staphylococcus aureus wall teichoic acids and capsular polysaccharides

Staphylococcus aureus produces different secondary cell wall glycopolymers such as wall teichoic acids (WTA) and capsular polysaccharides (CP). These structures play an important role in S. aureus colonization, pathogenesis and bacterial evasion of the host immune defences. To fulfil their diverse functions, biosynthesis of both glycopolymers has to be tightly controlled. Regulation of WTA biosynthesis and modification is only partially understood. The transcription factor MgrA and the two-component systems (TCS) Agr, GraRS, and ArlRS control WTA export, chain-length and modification. CP synthesis is determined by transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory circuits. On the transcriptional level expression of the capA-P operon is mainly driven by the alternative Sigma factor B and modulated by several transcriptional factors and TCS. Post-transcriptional mechanisms are in place to avoid conflict between precursor usage by the CP synthesis machinery and the synthesis machinery of other cell wall glycopolymers. The complex interplay of these regulatory systems determines the peculiar, strictly temporal expression of CP in the late growth phase and the high degree of phenotypic heterogeneity. Differential expression of CP, WTA and its modification systems during infection and colonisation are likely important for disease development, immune escape and survival within the host.