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Monecke S, Braun SD, Collatz M, Diezel C, Müller E, Reinicke M, Cabal Rosel A, Feßler AT, Hanke D, Loncaric I, Schwarz S, Cortez de Jäckel S, Ruppitsch W, Gavier-Widén D, Hotzel H, Ehricht R. Molecular Characterization of Chimeric Staphylococcus aureus Strains from Waterfowl. Microorganisms 2024; 12:96. [PMID: 38257923 PMCID: PMC10821479 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12010096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen that does not only occur in humans but also in various wild and domestic animals, including several avian species. When characterizing S. aureus isolates from waterfowl, isolates were identified as atypical CC133 by DNA microarray analysis. They differed from previously sequenced CC133 strains in the presence of the collagen adhesin gene cna; some also showed a different capsule type and a deviant spa type. Thus, they were subjected to whole-genome sequencing. This revealed multiple insertions of large regions of DNA from other S. aureus lineages into a CC133-derived backbone genome. Three distinct strains were identified based on the size and extent of these inserts. One strain comprised two small inserts of foreign DNA up- and downstream of oriC; one of about 7000 nt or 0.25% originated from CC692 and the other, at ca. 38,000 nt or 1.3% slightly larger one was of CC522 provenance. The second strain carried a larger CC692 insert (nearly 257,000 nt or 10% of the strain's genome), and its CC522-derived insert was also larger, at about 53,500 nt or 2% of the genome). The third strain carried an identical CC692-derived region (in which the same mutations were observed as in the second strain), but it had a considerably larger CC522-like insertion of about 167,000 nt or 5.9% of the genome. Both isolates of the first, and two out of four isolates of the second strain also harbored a hemolysin-beta-integrating prophage carrying "bird-specific" virulence factors, ornithine cyclodeaminase D0K6J8 and a putative protease D0K6J9. Furthermore, isolates had two different variants of SCC elements that lacked mecA/mecC genes. These findings highlight the role of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of S. aureus facilitated by SCC elements, by phages, and by a yet undescribed mechanism for large-scale exchange of core genomic DNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Monecke
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, Dresden University Hospital, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Sascha D. Braun
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Maximillian Collatz
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Celia Diezel
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Elke Müller
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Martin Reinicke
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Adriana Cabal Rosel
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, 1220 Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrea T. Feßler
- Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Centre for Infection, Medicine School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
- Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
| | - Dennis Hanke
- Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Centre for Infection, Medicine School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
- Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
| | - Igor Loncaric
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Stefan Schwarz
- Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics, Centre for Infection, Medicine School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
- Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Werner Ruppitsch
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, 1220 Vienna, Austria
| | - Dolores Gavier-Widén
- Department of Pathology and Wildlife Disease, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), 75189 Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Helmut Hotzel
- Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health), 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Ralf Ehricht
- Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), 07745 Jena, Germany
- InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller University, 07743 Jena, Germany
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