NARSA transposon mutants lacking a functional spa, splF or dps gene were used to infect C. elegans. The survival of C. elegans significantly increased when nematodes were infected with S. epidermidis ET-024 together with NE286 (lacking functional spa), NE1764 (lacking functional splF) or NE1929 (lacking functional dps) compared to infection with S. epidermidis ET-024 and wild-type S. aureus JE2. This evidence concerns the gene PDSS1 and infection.