Transforming the Untransformable: Application of Direct Transformation To Manipulate Genetically Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis

Abstract

Staphylococcal infections place a huge burden on the health care sector due both to their severity and also to the economic impact of treating the infections because of prolonged hospitalization. To improve the understanding of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis infections, we have developed a series of improved techniques that allow the genetic manipulation of strains that were previously refractory to transformation. These developments will speed up the process of mutant construction and increase our understanding of these species as a whole, rather than just a small subset of strains that could previously be manipulated.