Novel nonsense mutation in the katA gene of a catalase-negative Staphylococcus aureus strain

Lagos, JaimeAlarcón, PedroBenadof, DonaUlloa, SoledadFasce, RodrigoTognarelli, JavierAguayo, CarolinaAraya, PamelaParra, BárbaraOlivares, BertaHormazábal, Juan CarlosFernández, Jorge

We report the first description of a rare catalase-negative strain of Staphylococcus aureus in Chile. This new variant was isolated from blood and synovial tissue samples of a pediatric patient. Sequencing analysis revealed that this catalase-negative strain is related to ST10 strain, which has earlier been described in relation to S. aureus carriers. Interestingly, sequence analysis of the catalase gene katA revealed presence of a novel nonsense mutation that causes premature translational truncation of the C-terminus of the enzyme leading to a loss of 222 amino acids. Our study suggests that loss of catalase activity in this rare catalase-negative Chilean strain is due to this novel nonsense mutation in the katA gene, which truncates the enzyme to just 283 amino acids. (AU)

1. katA
2. Staphylococcus aureus
3. Catalase-negative
4. Catalase gene