In 1880, the Scottish surgeon Sir Alexander Ogston first described staphylococci in pus from a surgical abscess in a knee joint: “The masses looked like bunches of grapes” [1]. In 1884, the German physician Friedrich Julius Rosenbach differentiated the staphylococci by the color of their colonies: S. aureus (from the Latin aurum, gold) [2]. For another 20 years, very little was known on the pathophysiology of this bug. Based on a PubMed search record, the first Staphylococcal paper was published in 1900 on a case report [3]. More and more scientists gradually engaged to study diseases caused by this bacterium.
There were some 10 publications recorded during the period 1900–1910, which translate in average to one publication/year. Research on this bug exploded in the 20th century, which is reflected in a recent PubMed search. It yields 47,974 publications records when searched using the keyword “Staphylococcus” in the title. During the period 2010–2020, the average publication was 2000 articles/year. This record makes Staphylococcus the single most researched bacterium based on this publication track record.
Over time, numerous Staphylococcus species were discovered, consisting of more than 45 staphylococcal species and 24 subspecies classified using molecular methods [4]. These various species of Staphylococcus are clinically important as 30% of the healthy human population is colonized with various Staphylococcus spp. Some strains are opportunistic pathogens and can cause a minor infection to life-threatening diseases. Pathogenicity of these different strains depends on several virulence factors: Level of protein expression as well as the robustness of the regulatory networks expressing these virulence factors.
These factors consist of numerous toxins, enterotoxins (some of which act as superantigens), enzymes, and proteins with other functions (cytoplasmic, extracellular, and surface) that are tightly regulated by two-components (TC), transcriptional and translational regulators, as well as quorum-sensing (QS) regulatory networks [5]. This Special Issue is dedicated to the studies and recent advancements in our understanding of staphylococcal virulence mechanisms that enable Staphylococcus spp. either to successfully establish themselves as a colonizer or to overcome the host’s defense system to cause infection.
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