Gaussia Luciferase as a Reporter for Quorum Sensing inStaphylococcus aureus

Gaussialuciferase (GLuc) is a secreted protein with significant potential for use as a reporter of gene expression in bacterial pathogenicity studies. To date there are relatively few examples of its use in bacteriology. In this study we show that GLuc can be functionally expressed in the human pathogenStaphylococcus aureusand furthermore show that it can be used as a biosensor for theagrquorum sensing (QS) system which employs autoinducing peptides to control virulence. GLuc was linked to the P3 promoter of theS. aureusagroperon. Biosensor strains were validated by evaluation of chemical agent-mediated activation and inhibition ofagr. Use of GLuc enabled quantitative assessment ofagractivity. This demonstrates the utility ofGaussialuciferase for in vitro monitoring ofagractivation and inhibition.