Staphylococcus Aureus Genes clfA and esaA

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that causes different types of infections in humans such as those in the joint and wounds. It can spread through skin to skin contact contaminated surfaces, or respiratory droplets. S. aureus is known to be antibiotic resistant, making treatment difficult. S. aureus affects animals as well as humans. Bovine metastasis is a condition caused by the bacteria that caused swelling of the cow udders. This condition costs the dairy industry millions of dollars annually. Considering that Idaho is a large producer of dairy, it affects us significantly more. Our lab is working to develop a vaccine for S. aureus. Our lab is developing chimeric vaccines that fuse antigenic proteins from S. aureus to cholera toxin subunit to enhance immune responses. We aim to clone the clfA and esaA genes into an expression vector for chimeric protein production. clfA is a clumping factor associated with S. aureus in blood plasma and esaA is responsible for protein secretion. These genes are found within S. aureus, and can be purified and cloned to study immune reactivity, functionality, and structure. This allows us to better understand the pathology of S. aureus. Additionally, we are conducting bioinformatics analyses to gain further insight into these genes and their potential as vaccine targets. This research is important because it could serve as a foundation for developing a vaccine for both livestock and human applications.