Conserved genes in a path from commensalism to pathogenicity: comparative phylogenetic profiles of Staphylococcus epidermidis RP62A and ATCC12228.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Staphylococcus epidermidis, long regarded as an innocuous commensal bacterium of the human skin, is the most frequent cause of nosocomial infections associated with implanted medical devices. This conditional pathogen provides a model of choice to study genome landmarks correlated with the transition between commensalism and pathogenicity. Traditional investigations stress differences in gene content. We focused on conserved genes that have accumulated small mutation differences during the transition.

Results

A comparison of strain ATCC12228, a non-biofilm forming, non-infection associated strain and strain RP62A, a methicillin-resistant biofilm clinical isolate, revealed consistent variation, mostly single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in orthologous genes in

SUBMITTER: Wei W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1482698 | biostudies-literature | 2006 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature