Bacterial Carriage of Genes Encoding Fibronectin-Binding Proteins Is Associated with Long-Term Persistence of Staphylococcus aureus in the Nasal and Gut Microbiota of Infants

Staphylococcus aureus colonisation and strategies for decolonisation

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of death by infectious diseases worldwide. Treatment of S aureus infections is difficult due to widespread antibiotic resistance, necessitating alternative approaches and measures for prevention of infection. Because S aureus infections commonly arise from asymptomatic colonisation, decolonisation is considered a key approach for their prevention. Current decolonisation procedures include antibiotic-based and antiseptic-based eradication of S aureus from the nose and skin. However, despite the widespread implementation and partial success of such measures, S aureus infection rates remain worrisome, and resistance to decolonisation agents is on the rise. In this Review we outline the epidemiology and mechanisms of S aureus colonisation, describe how colonisation underlies infection, and discuss current and novel approaches for S aureus decolonisation, with a focus on the latest findings on probiotic strategies and the intestinal S aureus colonisation site.

Bioprospecting the Skin Microbiome: Advances in Therapeutics and Personal Care Products

Bioprospecting is the discovery and exploration of biological diversity found within organisms, genetic elements or produced compounds with prospective commercial or therapeutic applications. The human skin is an ecological niche which harbours a rich and compositional diversity microbiome stemming from the multifactorial interactions between the host and microbiota facilitated by exploitable effector compounds. Advances in the understanding of microbial colonisation mechanisms alongside species and strain interactions have revealed a novel chemical and biological understanding which displays applicative potential. Studies elucidating the organismal interfaces and concomitant understanding of the central processes of skin biology have begun to unravel a potential wealth of molecules which can exploited for their proposed functions. A variety of skin-microbiome-derived compounds display prospective therapeutic applications, ranging from antioncogenic agents relevant in skin cancer therapy to treatment strategies for antimicrobial-resistant bacterial and fungal infections. Considerable opportunities have emerged for the translation to personal care products, such as topical agents to mitigate various skin conditions such as acne and eczema. Adjacent compound developments have focused on cosmetic applications such as reducing skin ageing and its associated changes to skin properties and the microbiome. The skin microbiome contains a wealth of prospective compounds with therapeutic and commercial applications; however, considerable work is required for the translation of in vitro findings to relevant in vivo models to ensure translatability.

The spread of antibiotic resistance to humans and potential protection strategies

Antibiotic resistance is currently one of the greatest threats to human health. Widespread use and residues of antibiotics in humans, animals, and the environment can exert selective pressure on antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance gene (ARG), accelerating the flow of antibiotic resistance. As ARG spreads to the population, the burden of antibiotic resistance in humans increases, which may have potential health effects on people. Therefore, it is critical to mitigate the spread of antibiotic resistance to humans and reduce the load of antibiotic resistance in humans. This review briefly described the information of global antibiotic consumption information and national action plans (NAPs) to combat antibiotic resistance and provided a set of feasible control strategies for the transmission of ARB and ARG to humans in three areas including (a) Reducing the colonization capacity of exogenous ARB, (b) Enhancing human colonization resistance and mitigating the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of ARG, (c) Reversing ARB antibiotic resistance. With the hope of achieving interdisciplinary one-health prevention and control of bacterial resistance.

Staphylococcus aureus sequence type (ST) 45, ST30, and ST15 in the gut microbiota of healthy infants - persistence and population counts in relation to ST and virulence gene carriage

Staphylococcus aureus colonizes the anterior nares, and also the gut, particularly in infants. S. aureus is divided into lineages, termed clonal complexes (CCs), which comprise closely related sequence types (STs). While CC30 and CC45 predominate among nasal commensals, their prevalence among gut-colonizing S. aureus is unknown. Here, 67 gut commensal S. aureus strains from 49 healthy Swedish infants (aged 3 days to 12 months) were subjected to multi-locus sequence typing. The STs of these strains were related to their virulence gene profiles, time of persistence in the microbiota, and fecal population counts. Three STs predominated: ST45 (22% of the strains); ST15 (21%); and ST30 (18%). In a logistic regression, ST45 strains showed higher fecal population counts than the others, independent of virulence gene carriage. The lower fecal counts of ST15 were linked to the carriage of fib genes (encoding fibrinogen-binding proteins), while those of ST30 were linked to fib and sea (enterotoxin A) carriage. While only 11% of the ST15 and ST30 strains were acquired after 2 months of age, this was true of 53% of the ST45 strains (p = 0.008), indicating that the former may be less fit for establishment in a more mature microbiota. None of the ST45 strains was transient (persisting < 3 weeks), and persistent ST45 strains colonized for significantly longer periods than persistent strains of other STs (mean, 34 vs 22 weeks, p = 0.04). Our results suggest that ST45 strains are well-adapted for commensal gut colonization in infants, reflecting yet-unidentified traits of these strains.