Signaling Antibiotic Resistance in Staphylococci

For 30 years biologists have studied the molecular machinery of staphylococcal bacteria that renders them resistant to b-lactam antibiotics. In a Perspective, Archer and Bosilevac discuss new findings showing that cleavage of a sensor-transducer protein after it binds to a b-lactam antibiotic results in cleavage of the repressor protein that binds to the blaZ gene. b-Lactamase is then produced and binds to and inactivates the antibiotic.