Duplication of Teichoic Acid Biosynthetic Genes in Staphylococcus aureus Leads to Functionally Redundant Poly(Ribitol Phosphate) Polymerases

Wall teichoic acids are anionic phosphate-rich polymers that are part of the complex meshwork of carbohydrates that make up the gram-positive cell wall. These polymers are essential to the proper rod-shaped morphology of Bacillus subtilis and have been shown to be an important virulence determinant in the nosocomial opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Together, sequence-based studies, in vitro experiments with biosynthetic proteins, …