Tracking the in vivo evolution of multidrug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus by whole-genome sequencing.

ABSTRACT: The spread of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in the clinical environment has begun to pose serious limits to treatment options. Yet virtually nothing is known about how resistance traits are acquired in vivo. Here, we apply the power of whole-genome sequencing to identify steps in the evolution of multidrug resistance in isogenic S. aureus isolates recovered periodically from the bloodstream of a patient undergoing chemotherapy with vancomycin and other antibiotics. After extensive therapy, the bacterium developed resistance, and treatment failed. Sequencing the first vancomycin susceptible isolate and the last vancomycin nonsusceptible isolate identified genome wide only 35 point mutations in 31 loci. These mutations appeared in a sequential order in isolates tha

SUBMITTER: Mwangi MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1890515 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature