Subtle genetic changes enhance virulence of methicillin resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. Other Scholarly Work

Highlander, Sarah K, Hultén, Kristina G, Qin, Xiang et al. (2007). Subtle genetic changes enhance virulence of methicillin resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. . BMC MICROBIOLOGY, 7 99. 10.1186/1471-2180-7-99

cited authors

  • Highlander, Sarah K; Hultén, Kristina G; Qin, Xiang; Jiang, Huaiyang; Yerrapragada, Shailaja; Mason, Edward O; Shang, Yue; Williams, Tiffany M; Fortunov, Régine M; Liu, Yamei; Igboeli, Okezie; Petrosino, Joseph; Tirumalai, Madhan; Uzman, Akif; Fox, George E; Cardenas, Ana Maria; Muzny, Donna M; Hemphill, Lisa; Ding, Yan; Dugan, Shannon; Blyth, Peter R; Buhay, Christian J; Dinh, Huyen H; Hawes, Alicia C; Holder, Michael; Kovar, Christie L; Lee, Sandra L; Liu, Wen; Nazareth, Lynne V; Wang, Qiaoyan; Zhou, Jianling; Kaplan, Sheldon L; Weinstock, George M

authors

abstract

  • Background

    Community acquired (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) increasingly causes disease worldwide. USA300 has emerged as the predominant clone causing superficial and invasive infections in children and adults in the USA. Epidemiological studies suggest that USA300 is more virulent than other CA-MRSA. The genetic determinants that render virulence and dominance to USA300 remain unclear.

    Results

    We sequenced the genomes of two pediatric USA300 isolates: one CA-MRSA and one CA-methicillin susceptible (MSSA), isolated at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. DNA sequencing was performed by Sanger dideoxy whole genome shotgun (WGS) and 454 Life Sciences pyrosequencing strategies. The sequence of the USA300 MRSA strain was rigorously annotated. In USA300-MRSA 2658 chromosomal open reading frames were predicted and 3.1 and 27 kilobase (kb) plasmids were identified. USA300-MSSA contained a 20 kb plasmid with some homology to the 27 kb plasmid found in USA300-MRSA. Two regions found in US300-MRSA were absent in USA300-MSSA. One of these carried the arginine deiminase operon that appears to have been acquired from S. epidermidis. The USA300 sequence was aligned with other sequenced S. aureus genomes and regions unique to USA300 MRSA were identified.

    Conclusion

    USA300-MRSA is highly similar to other MRSA strains based on whole genome alignments and gene content, indicating that the differences in pathogenesis are due to subtle changes rather than to large-scale acquisition of virulence factor genes. The USA300 Houston isolate differs from another sequenced USA300 strain isolate, derived from a patient in San Francisco, in plasmid content and a number of sequence polymorphisms. Such differences will provide new insights into the evolution of pathogens.

publication date

  • November 1, 2007

published in

keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Base Sequence
  • Genomic Islands
  • Humans
  • Hydrolases
  • Methicillin Resistance
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Plasmids
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Staphylococcal Infections
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • United States

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Medium

  • Electronic

start page

  • 99

volume

  • 7