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Ramsay JP, Kwong SM, Murphy RJT, Yui Eto K, Price KJ, Nguyen QT, O'Brien FG, Grubb WB, Coombs GW, Firth N. An updated view of plasmid conjugation and mobilization in Staphylococcus. Mob Genet Elements 2016; 6:e1208317. [PMID: 27583185 PMCID: PMC4993578 DOI: 10.1080/2159256x.2016.1208317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2016] [Revised: 06/15/2016] [Accepted: 06/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The horizontal gene transfer facilitated by mobile genetic elements impacts almost all areas of bacterial evolution, including the accretion and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistance genes in the human and animal pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Genome surveys of staphylococcal plasmids have revealed an unexpected paucity of conjugation and mobilization loci, perhaps suggesting that conjugation plays only a minor role in the evolution of this genus. In this letter we present the DNA sequences of historically documented staphylococcal conjugative plasmids and highlight that at least 3 distinct and widely distributed families of conjugative plasmids currently contribute to the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus. We also review the recently documented "relaxase-in trans" mechanism of conjugative mobilization facilitated by conjugative plasmids pWBG749 and pSK41, and discuss how this may facilitate the horizontal transmission of around 90% of plasmids that were previously considered non-mobilizable. Finally, we enumerate unique sequenced S. aureus plasmids with a potential mechanism of mobilization and predict that at least 80% of all non-conjugative S. aureus plasmids are mobilizable by at least one mechanism. We suggest that a greater research focus on the molecular biology of conjugation is essential if we are to recognize gene-transfer mechanisms from our increasingly in silico analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua P. Ramsay
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
- ACCESS Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Stephen M. Kwong
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Riley J. T. Murphy
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
- ACCESS Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Karina Yui Eto
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
- ACCESS Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Karina J. Price
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Quang T. Nguyen
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Frances G. O'Brien
- ACCESS Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Warren B. Grubb
- ACCESS Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Geoffrey W. Coombs
- ACCESS Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine–WA, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Neville Firth
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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O'Brien FG, Yui Eto K, Murphy RJT, Fairhurst HM, Coombs GW, Grubb WB, Ramsay JP. Origin-of-transfer sequences facilitate mobilisation of non-conjugative antimicrobial-resistance plasmids in Staphylococcus aureus. Nucleic Acids Res 2015; 43:7971-83. [PMID: 26243776 PMCID: PMC4652767 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2015] [Accepted: 07/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of hospital, community and livestock-associated infections and is increasingly resistant to multiple antimicrobials. A significant proportion of antimicrobial-resistance genes are plasmid-borne, but only a minority of S. aureus plasmids encode proteins required for conjugative transfer or Mob relaxase proteins required for mobilisation. The pWBG749 family of S. aureus conjugative plasmids can facilitate the horizontal transfer of diverse antimicrobial-resistance plasmids that lack Mob genes. Here we reveal that these mobilisable plasmids carry copies of the pWBG749 origin-of-transfer (oriT) sequence and that these oriT sequences facilitate mobilisation by pWBG749. Sequences resembling the pWBG749 oriT were identified on half of all sequenced S. aureus plasmids, including the most prevalent large antimicrobial-resistance/virulence-gene plasmids, pIB485, pMW2 and pUSA300HOUMR. oriT sequences formed five subfamilies with distinct inverted-repeat-2 (IR2) sequences. pWBG749-family plasmids encoding each IR2 were identified and pWBG749 mobilisation was found to be specific for plasmids carrying matching IR2 sequences. Specificity of mobilisation was conferred by a putative ribbon-helix-helix-protein gene smpO. Several plasmids carried 2–3 oriT variants and pWBG749-mediated recombination occurred between distinct oriT sites during mobilisation. These observations suggest this relaxase-in trans mechanism of mobilisation by pWBG749-family plasmids is a common mechanism of plasmid dissemination in S. aureus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances G O'Brien
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia Australian Collaborating Centre for Enterococcus and Staphylococcus Species (ACCESS) Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Karina Yui Eto
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia
| | - Riley J T Murphy
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia
| | - Heather M Fairhurst
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia
| | - Geoffrey W Coombs
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia Australian Collaborating Centre for Enterococcus and Staphylococcus Species (ACCESS) Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Warren B Grubb
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia Australian Collaborating Centre for Enterococcus and Staphylococcus Species (ACCESS) Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Joshua P Ramsay
- CHIRI Biosciences Precinct, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia Australian Collaborating Centre for Enterococcus and Staphylococcus Species (ACCESS) Typing and Research, School of Veterinary Sciences and Life Sciences, Murdoch University and School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Shittu AO, Udo EE, Lin J. Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolates expressing low- and high-level mupirocin resistance in Nigeria and South Africa. BMC Infect Dis 2009; 9:10. [PMID: 19175912 PMCID: PMC2640400 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-9-10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2008] [Accepted: 01/28/2009] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mupirocin is a topical antimicrobial agent which is used for the treatment of skin and postoperative wound infections, and the prevention of nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, the prevalence of mupirocin resistance in S. aureus, particularly in MRSA, has increased with the extensive and widespread use of this agent in hospital settings. This study characterized low- and high-level mupirocin-resistant S. aureus isolates obtained from Nigeria and South Africa. METHODS A total of 17 mupirocin-resistant S. aureus isolates obtained from two previous studies in Nigeria and South Africa, were characterized by antibiogram, PCR-RFLP of the coagulase gene and PFGE. High-level mupirocin resistant isolates were confirmed by PCR detection of the mupA gene. The genetic location of the resistance determinants was established by curing and transfer experiments. RESULTS All the low-level mupirocin resistant isolates were MRSA and resistant to gentamicin, tetracycline and trimethoprim. PFGE identified a major clone in two health care institutions located in Durban and a health care facility in Pietermaritzburg, Greytown and Empangeni. Curing and transfer experiments indicated that high-level mupirocin resistance was located on a 41.1 kb plasmid in the South African strain (A15). Furthermore, the transfer of high-level mupirocin resistance was demonstrated by the conjugative transfer of the 41.1 kb plasmid alone or with the co-transfer of a plasmid encoding resistance to cadmium. The size of the mupirocin-resistance encoding plasmid in the Nigerian strain (35 IBA) was approximately 35 kb. CONCLUSION The emergence of mupirocin-resistant S. aureus isolates in Nigeria and South Africa should be of great concern to medical personnel in these countries. It is recommended that methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA should be routinely tested for mupirocin resistance even in facilities where the agent is not administered. Urgent measures, including judicious use of mupirocin, need to be taken to prevent clonal dissemination of the mupirocin/methicillin resistant S. aureus in KZN, South Africa and the transfer of the conjugative plasmid encoding high-level mupirocin resistance identified in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adebayo O Shittu
- Department of Microbiology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
- School of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville Campus), Private Bag X54001, Durban, Republic of South Africa
| | - Edet E Udo
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait
| | - Johnson Lin
- School of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville Campus), Private Bag X54001, Durban, Republic of South Africa
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Dar JA, Thoker MA, Khan JA, Ali A, Khan MA, Rizwan M, Bhat KH, Dar MJ, Ahmed N, Ahmad S. Molecular epidemiology of clinical and carrier strains of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the hospital settings of north India. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob 2006; 5:22. [PMID: 16972997 PMCID: PMC1592298 DOI: 10.1186/1476-0711-5-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2006] [Accepted: 09/14/2006] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The study was conducted between 2000 and 2003 on 750 human subjects, yielding 850 strains of staphylococci from clinical specimens (575), nasal cultures of hospitalized patients (100) and eye & nasal sources of hospital workers (50 & 125 respectively) in order to determine their epidemiology, acquisition and dissemination of resistance genes. METHODS Organisms from clinical samples were isolated, cultured and identified as per the standard routine procedures. Susceptibility was measured by the agar diffusion method, as recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). The modified method of Birnboin and Takahashi was used for isolation of plasmids from staphylococci. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing of clinical and carrier Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated during our study was performed as described previously. RESULTS It was shown that 35.1% of Staphylococcus aureus and 22.5% of coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates were resistant to methicillin. Highest percentage of MRSA (35.5%) was found in pus specimens (n = 151). The multiple drug resistance of all MRSA (n = 180) and Methicillin resistant Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus aureus (MRCNS) (n = 76) isolates was detected. In case of both methicillin-resistant as well as methicillin-sensitive Saphylococcal isolates zero resistance was found to vancomycin where as highest resistance was found to penicillin G followed by ampicillin. It was shown that the major reservoir of methicillin resistant staphylococci in hospitals are colonized/infected inpatients and colonized hospital workers, with carriers at risk for developing endogenous infection or transmitting infection to health care workers and patients. The results were confirmed by molecular typing using PFGE by SmaI-digestion. It was shown that the resistant markers G and T got transferred from clinical S. aureus (JS-105) to carrier S. aureus (JN-49) and the ciprofloxacin (Cf) and erythromycin (E) resistance seemed to be chromosomal mediated. In one of the experiments, plasmid pJMR1O from Staphylococcus aureus coding for ampicillin (A), gentamicin (G) and amikacin (Ak) resistance was transformed into Escherichia coli. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for A and G were lower in E. coli than in S. aureus. However, the MIC for Ak was higher in E. coli transformants than in S. aureus. CONCLUSION There is a progressive increase in MRSA prevalence and multi-drug resistance in staphylococci. Vancomycin is still the drug of choice for MRSA infections. The major reservoir of methicillin resistant staphylococci in hospitals is colonized/infected inpatients and colonized hospital workers. Resistance transfer from staphylococci to E. coli as well as from clinical to carrier staphylococci due to antibiotic stress seemed to be an alarming threat to antimicrobial chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javid A Dar
- Microbiology Division, Institute of Ophthalmology, J. N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - Manzoor A Thoker
- Department of Microbiology, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, India
| | - Jamal A Khan
- Division of Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology J. N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - Asif Ali
- Department of Biochemistry, J. N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - Mohammed A Khan
- Microbiology Division, Institute of Ophthalmology, J. N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
| | - Mohammed Rizwan
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cell Biology, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics Hyderabad, India
| | - Khalid H Bhat
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cell Biology, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics Hyderabad, India
| | - Mohammad J Dar
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cell Biology, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics Hyderabad, India
| | - Niyaz Ahmed
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cell Biology, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics Hyderabad, India
| | - Shamim Ahmad
- Microbiology Division, Institute of Ophthalmology, J. N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
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Mack D, Bartscht K, Fischer C, Rohde H, de Grahl C, Dobinsky S, Horstkotte MA, Kiel K, Knobloch JK. Genetic and biochemical analysis of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm accumulation. Methods Enzymol 2001; 336:215-39. [PMID: 11398401 DOI: 10.1016/s0076-6879(01)36592-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- D Mack
- Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
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Udo EE, Jacob LE. Conjugative transfer of high-level mupirocin resistance and the mobilization of non-conjugative plasmids in Staphylococcus aureus. Microb Drug Resist 2000; 4:185-93. [PMID: 9818970 DOI: 10.1089/mdr.1998.4.185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A 31-kb conjugative plasmid, pXU12, encoding high-level mupirocin resistance via the mupA gene, was isolated from a multiply resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolate, MB494. pXU12 was derived by a deletion of an 8.6-kb EcoRI fragment from a approximately 40-kb plasmid in the parental isolate during curing and conjugation experiments. It transferred rapidly in conjugation experiments, with transconjugants being obtained after 15 min of mating, and mobilized a 3.0-kb erythromycin resistance plasmid, pXU13, from the parental isolate at high frequencies. The cotransfer of pXU13 by pXU12 was unaffected by varying the donor-recipient ratios in the mating mixtures or the length of incubation. pXU12 also mobilized 11 other nonconjugative plasmids belonging to different incompatibility groups and cotransferred at high frequencies. The ability of pXU12 to mobilize different nonconjugative plasmids suggested that it can be used to transfer and isolate non-conjugative plasmids from resistant S. aureus strains in the laboratory, especially from strains where phage-dependent methods of transfer are not applicable.
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Affiliation(s)
- E E Udo
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Safat
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Pearce H, Messager S, Maillard JY. Effect of biocides commonly used in the hospital environment on the transfer of antibiotic-resistance genes in Staphylococcus aureus. J Hosp Infect 1999; 43:101-7. [PMID: 10549309 DOI: 10.1053/jhin.1999.0250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The effect of sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations of biocides, commonly used in the hospital environment, on the conjugation and transduction of plasmid pWG613 was investigated in three strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The highest transfer frequency was obtained in the conjugation experiments. A low concentration of povidone-iodine was found to significantly reduce transfer frequency by 10-fold in S. aureus SAU3/13136 mating, while other biocides had no effect at low concentrations. Cetrimide (0.0001%) was found to increase significantly transduction efficiency in S. aureus RF2 when the biocide was included in the recovery media. A low concentration of chlorhexidine or povidone-iodine reduced transduction efficiency in the same recipient. This study showed that reduction in transduction efficiency was caused by the direct effect of biocides on the recipient strains rather than on the phage 80 alpha particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Pearce
- Welsh School of Pharmacy, Redwood Building, Cardiff University, UK
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Freitas FI, Guedes-Stehling E, Siqueira-Júnior JP. Resistance to gentamicin and related aminoglycosides in Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Brazil. Lett Appl Microbiol 1999; 29:197-201. [PMID: 10530041 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2672.1999.00617.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus obtained from a Brazilian university hospital were characterized in relation to resistance to gentamicin and related aminoglycosides. Thirty-six isolates were susceptible to methicillin (MSSA) and 14 were resistant (MRSA). All isolates were sensitive to nucleic acid-binding compounds. All MRSA isolates and one MSSA isolate were demonstrated to be resistant to gentamicin and were coincidentally resistant to amikacin, kanamycin, neomycin and tobramycin. Among the gentamicin sensitive MSSA isolates, five isolates were found to be resistant only to kanamycin/neomycin. The resistance to gentamicin (and related aminoglycosides: kanamycin and tobramycin) must be due to AAC(6')-APH(2") activity. As these isolates also showed resistance to neomycin, they must carry an additional genetic element, probably the one responsible for APH(3')III activity, which accounts for the high level of resistance to kanamycin and to amikacin. The resistance to kanamycin/neomycin in the gentamicin sensitive isolates could not be attributed to the AAD(4')(4") activity because of the tobramycin sensitivity, and so could be ascribed to the APH(3')III activity. Curing and transfer experiments, as well as electrophoresis procedures, indicate that gentamicin resistance in Staph. aureus strains here studied has, characteristically, chromosomal localization.
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Affiliation(s)
- F I Freitas
- Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Joao Pessoa (PB), Brazil
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Udo EE, Jacob LE, Mokadas EM. Conjugative transfer of high-level mupirocin resistance from Staphylococcus haemolyticus to other staphylococci. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1997; 41:693-5. [PMID: 9056015 PMCID: PMC163773 DOI: 10.1128/aac.41.3.693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
A conjugative plasmid, pXU10, encoding high-level mupirocin resistance was transferred from a Staphylococcus haemolyticus isolate, CN216, to other coagulase-negative staphylococci and a restriction deficient Staphylococcus aureus strain, XU21, but not to clinical isolates or a restriction-proficient laboratory strain (strain WBG541) of S. aureus. However, from XU21 it was cotransferred with a 3.5-kb chloramphenicol resistance plasmid to WBG541. The results demonstrated the ability of pXU10 to mobilize nonconjugative plasmids.
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Affiliation(s)
- E E Udo
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait.
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Udo EE, Grubb WB. Transfer of plasmid-borne resistance from a multiply-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolate, WBG1022. Curr Microbiol 1995; 31:71-6. [PMID: 7606189 DOI: 10.1007/bf00294278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus isolate, WBG1022, was resistant to penicillin, kanamycin, neomycin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim, cadmium, and ethidium bromide and harbored plasmids of 34.5, 24.5, 4.4, 3.2, and 2.6 kilobases. The plasmids were transferred in mixed-culture transfer and conjugation experiments. No resistance phenotype was associated with the 2.6-kb plasmid. The 3.2-kb and 4.4-kb plasmids encoded chloramphenicol and streptomycin resistance respectively. The 24.5-kb plasmid, pWBG626, encoded joint resistance to penicillin, kanamycin, neomycin, and ethidium bromide. Resistance to trimethoprim and cadmium were chromosomal. The 34.5-kb plasmid, pWBG661, had no resistance phenotype but was found to be conjugative. It also mobilized the 4.4-kb and 24.5-kb plasmids in WBG1022. Restriction endonuclease analysis of pWBG661 with EcoRI, ClaI, PvuII, and BglII restriction enzymes demonstrated that pWBG661 was identical to two previously isolated S. aureus conjugative plasmids, pWBG620 and pWBG637, that also lack resistance phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- E E Udo
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
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Mack D, Nedelmann M, Krokotsch A, Schwarzkopf A, Heesemann J, Laufs R. Characterization of transposon mutants of biofilm-producing Staphylococcus epidermidis impaired in the accumulative phase of biofilm production: genetic identification of a hexosamine-containing polysaccharide intercellular adhesin. Infect Immun 1994; 62:3244-53. [PMID: 8039894 PMCID: PMC302952 DOI: 10.1128/iai.62.8.3244-3253.1994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 252] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The primary attachment to polymer surfaces followed by accumulation in multilayered cell clusters leads to production of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms, which are thought to contribute to virulence in biomaterial-related infections. We isolated Tn917 transposon mutants of biofilm-producing S. epidermidis 13-1, which were completely biofilm negative. In pulsed-field gel electrophoresis no obvious deletions of the mutants were noted. The Tn917 insertions of mutants M10 and M11 were located on different EcoRI fragments but on identical 60-kb SmaI and 17-kb BamHI chromosomal fragments. Linkage of transposon insertions of mutants M10 and M11 with the altered phenotype was demonstrated by phage transduction, whereas the several other mutants apparently represented spontaneous variants. In a primary attachment assay with polystyrene spheres, no significant difference between any of the mutants and the wild type could be detected. Cell clustering as an indication of intercellular adhesion, which is a prerequisite for accumulation in multilayered cell clusters, was not detected with any mutant. These results demonstrate that the mutants were impaired in the accumulative phase of biofilm production. Mutants M10 and M11 did not produce detectable amounts of a specific polysaccharide antigen (D. Mack, N. Siemssen, and R. Laufs, Infect. Immun. 60:2048-2057, 1992), whereas substantially reduced amounts of antigen were produced by the spontaneous variants. Hexosamine was determined as the major specific component of the antigen enriched by gel filtration of biofilm-producing S. epidermidis 1457 because almost no hexosamine was detected in material prepared from the isogenic biofilm-negative transductant 1457-M11, which differentiates the antigen from other S. epidermidis polysaccharide components. Our results provide direct genetic evidence for a function of the antigen in the accumulative phase of biofilm production by S. epidermidis by mediating intercellular adhesion.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Mack
- Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie, Universitätskrankenhaus Eppendorf, Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany
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Zueva VS, Nesterenko LN, Dmitrenko OA, Akatov AK. Lysogeny of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the role of prophages in transfer of conjugative and non-conjugative plasmids. J Chemother 1991; 3:279-82. [PMID: 1839741 DOI: 10.1080/1120009x.1991.11739106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The lysogenicity of 49 strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolated in Moscow clinics in the 1970s and '80s was studied by the method of mitomycin C induction. It was found that one strain had phage of serogroup B, 33 strains had serogroup F phages and 15 strains had phages of both serogroups. In the course of genetic crossing on nitrocellulose filters it was demonstrated that serogroups B and F prophages contained in recipient cells 1) increase the frequency of transfer of conjugative plasmid pG873 and 2) mobilize transfer of non-conjugative plasmids pE994 and rms7.
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Affiliation(s)
- V S Zueva
- Laboratory of Staphylococcal Infections, Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, USSR
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14
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al-Masaudi SB, Russell AD, Day MJ. Comparative sensitivity to antibiotics and biocides of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from Saudi Arabia and Great Britain. THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY 1991; 71:331-8. [PMID: 1960107 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1991.tb03796.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated in Saudi Arabia and Great Britain were examined for susceptibility to antibiotics and biocides. The strains differed in their sensitivity patterns. None of the Saudi strains showed resistance to propamidine isethionate, but most of the British gentamicin methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus (GMRSA) strains were highly resistant to this compound and to some other nucleic acid-binding (NAB) compounds. Both groups showed a low level of resistance towards quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), but resistance to these compounds was not associated with resistance to gentamicin in the Saudi strains. The aminoglycoside-resistant determinants were non-conjugative in these strains. Natural MRSA strains were good recipients for pWG613, but transferred this plasmid in reciprocal crosses at significantly lower rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- S B al-Masaudi
- School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, UK
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15
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al-Masaudi SB, Day MJ, Russell AD. Effect of some antibiotics and biocides on plasmid transfer in Staphylococcus aureus. THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY 1991; 71:239-43. [PMID: 1955418 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1991.tb04454.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The effects of some antibiotics and biocides on the conjugative transfer of the Staphylococcus aureus gentamicin resistance plasmid pWG613 were investigated. Gentamicin and vancomycin were found to stimulate plasmid transfer frequency by 10- to 20-fold whereas methicillin and three inhibitors of protein synthesis each reduced it by various degrees. Most significantly, mupirocin inhibited plasmid transfer frequency by more than 1000-fold. All the biocides tested (cationic agents, sodium dodecyl sulphate and an organomercurial) reduced plasmid transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- S B al-Masaudi
- School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales College, Cardiff
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al-Masaudi SB, Day MJ, Russell AD. Antimicrobial resistance and gene transfer in Staphylococcus aureus. THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY 1991; 70:279-90. [PMID: 2055789 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1991.tb02937.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S B al-Masaudi
- School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, UK
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Udo E, Grubb W. Conjugal transfer of plasmid pWBG637 fromStaphylococcus aureustoStaphylococcus epidermidisandStreptococcus faecalis. FEMS Microbiol Lett 1990. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1990.tb03886.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
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Thomas WD, Archer GL. Mobility of gentamicin resistance genes from staphylococci isolated in the United States: identification of Tn4031, a gentamicin resistance transposon from Staphylococcus epidermidis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1989; 33:1335-41. [PMID: 2552907 PMCID: PMC172650 DOI: 10.1128/aac.33.8.1335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Homologous genes encoding resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, and kanamycin through the bifunctional acetylating [AAC(6')] and phosphorylating [APH(2")] aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme were identified in staphylococci isolated from patients in the United States. The mobility of gentamicin resistance (Gmr) genes found on a prototype conjugative plasmid (pGO1) was compared with that of genes cloned from chromosomal sites. Plasmid-encoded Gmr genes and flanking sequences were introduced onto a temperature-sensitive plasmid (pRN3208) from pGO1 by homologous recombination between insertion sequence-like elements present on both replicons. Growth of Staphylococcus aureus strains containing the temperature-sensitive recombinant (pGO161) at the nonpermissive temperature for plasmid replication (42 degrees C) revealed no translocation of Gmr from its plasmid location. A transposon (Tn551) resident on the same replicon did translocate. Chromosomal Gmr determinants were cloned, together with the gene for trimethoprim resistance (dfrA), from three geographically distinct S. epidermidis isolates; two were subcloned onto temperature-sensitive Escherichia coli-S. aureus shuttle plasmids as 7.2-kilobase BglII fragments. Growth of both recombination-deficient and-proficient S. aureus strains containing the cloned genes at 42 degrees C allowed detection of transposition of Gmr sequences and identification of insertion into random chromosomal sites. We have designated this 5-kilobase transposon from S. epidermidis as Tn4031.
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Affiliation(s)
- W D Thomas
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298
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Cristino JA, Pereira AT. Plasmid analysis of 219 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains with uncommon profiles isolated in Lisbon. J Hosp Infect 1989; 13:133-41. [PMID: 2567305 DOI: 10.1016/0195-6701(89)90019-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
During the years 1986 and 1987, 219 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains were isolated in a Lisbon hospital. Antimicrobial susceptibilities and genetic analysis showed that resistance to penicillin, methicillin, erythromycin (inducible phenotype), tetracycline, gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, neomycin and trimethoprim were chromosomally encoded. Plasmid DNA was absent from 38.8% of the isolates. Constitutive erythromycin resistance was coded by three plasmids of c. 2.3 Md, c. 2.0 Md and c. 1.6 Md. Chloramphenicol resistance was mediated by two plasmids of c. 2.9 Md and c. 1.8 Md. Small cryptic plasmids of c. 1.65 Md, c. 1.2 Md and c. 1.0 Md were also detected. The majority of the strains revealed antigen 17, were lysed by phages 75, 89 and/or 85, and were either devoid of plasmid DNA, or possessed a c. 1.6 Md plasmid coding for constitutive erythromycin resistance or a c. 1.0 Md cryptic plasmid. These observations cannot rule out that the MRSA Lisbon isolates are a homogeneous group of strains that might have a common origin, and seem to be different from MRSA recently isolated in other countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Cristino
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal
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Udo E, Townsend D, Grubb W. A conjugative staphylococcal plasmid with no resistance phenotype. FEMS Microbiol Lett 1987. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1987.tb02039.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Cookson B, Talsania H, Naidoo J, Phillips I. Strategies for typing and properties of epidemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY 1986; 5:702-9. [PMID: 3643106 DOI: 10.1007/bf02013309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Isolates of 17 strains of epidemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from outbreaks in ten hospitals in the UK were investigated with a variety of techniques both to explore their properties and to type them in order to confirm or refute known or suspected epidemiology. The techniques consisted of a biotyping system, peptidoglycan analysis, testing of antibiotic sensitivity to 21 agents, various phage-typing methods including heat shock, plasmid pattern analysis, and heat cure derivation of plasmid-less isogenic strains. All strains resembled those originally isolated in Australia, being in the possession of a large number of chromosomal resistance factors, pigmentation, ability to produce lipase and large molecular weight plasmids (c.15 Md to c.23 Md) which conferred resistance to gentamicin, propamidine, ethidium bromide, cetrimide and chlorhexidine. Some strains also had a c.3 Md plasmid conferring chloramphenicol resistance and others a c.1 Md cryptic plasmid. A large percentage of the population was resistant to 25 mg/l methicillin at 37 degrees C, an unusual feature. All the strategies, with the exception of peptidoglycan analysis, contributed to typing of the strains.
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Schaberg DR, Zervos MJ. Intergeneric and interspecies gene exchange in gram-positive cocci. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1986; 30:817-22. [PMID: 3028249 PMCID: PMC180600 DOI: 10.1128/aac.30.6.817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
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Melo Cristino JA, Pereira AT, Afonso F, Naidoo JN. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a 6-month survey in a Lisbon paediatric hospital. J Hyg (Lond) 1986; 97:265-72. [PMID: 3640790 PMCID: PMC2083548 DOI: 10.1017/s0022172400065359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The prevalence of nasal colonization and infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients and staff was studied in a section of a Paediatric Surgical Unit in Lisbon between February and July 1985. Nasal colonization was demonstrated in 41% of burned patients, 5% of non-burned patients and 35% of the nurses. Infection by MRSA occurred in 30% of the burns. The isolates had identical serological patterns, slight differences on phage typing and were resistant to methicillin, cephalosporins, tetracycline, erythromycin and aminoglycosides. A chloramphenicol resistance plasmid of 3 Md was present in those isolates which were chloramphenicol resistant and a small plasmid of 1.7 Md which coded for constitutive erythromycin resistance was present in many isolates. Gentamicin, tetracycline and inducible erythromycin resistance were chromosomal. Several reasons for the apparent low virulence of the isolates are discussed. Attempts to control the outbreak by the discharge of colonized or infected patients, improvement of nursing practices and treatment with temporary removal from work of the colonized nurses did not eliminate the organism from the unit.
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Townsend DE, den Hollander L, Bolton S, Grubb WB. Clinical isolates of staphylococci conjugate on contact with dry absorbent surfaces. Med J Aust 1986; 144:166. [PMID: 3945211 DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1986.tb112260.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Townsend DE, Ashdown N, Bolton S, Grubb WB. The use of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide for the rapid isolation from Staphylococcus aureus of relaxable and non-relaxable plasmid DNA suitable for in vitro manipulation. Lett Appl Microbiol 1985. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-765x.1985.tb01496.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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