Putrescine Detected in Strains of Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Most forms of life, including the archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes synthesize the polyamine putrescine. Although putrescine is widely distributed, several Gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), appear to be the exceptions. We report here that strains of S. aureus can produce the polyamine putrescine, as well as the derivative N-acetyl-putrescine. Three strains of S. aureus from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), one strain listed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, whose genomic sequence is well defined, and well as eight strains from S. aureus-induced brain abscesses of individual patients from multiple geographic locations were evaluated. Each strain was grown in complete chemically defined medium (CDM) under stringent conditions, after which the partially purified conditioned medium (CM) was analyzed by mass spectroscopy (MS), and the data were reported as the ratio of experimental results to controls. We confirmed the synthesis of putrescine by S. aureus by using 13C/15N-labeled arginine as a tracer. We found that agmatine, N-acetyl-putrescine, ornithine, citrulline, proline, and NH3 were all labeled with heavy isotope derived from 13C/15N-labeled arginine. None of the strains examined produced spermine or spermidine, but strains from either ATCC or human brain abscesses produced putrescine and/or its derivative N-acetyl-putrescine.

Characterizing arginine, ornithine, and putrescine pathways in enteric pathobionts

“…However, there may be other strains of these organisms that are not in the IMG database that do possess the enzymes to generate putrescine. For example, one study found that S. aureus strains BAA‐44, ATCC 43300, and ATCC 25293 were able to generate putrescine (Seravalli & Portugal, 2023 ). This study found that S. aureus ATCC 25293 was able to generate the highest concentration of putrescine; suggesting that some strains may be better at generating and secreting this product.…”