Phylogeographic variation in recombination rates within a global clone of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool for understanding both patterns of descent over time and space (phylogeography) and the molecular processes underpinning genome divergence in pathogenic bacteria. Here, we describe a synthesis between these perspectives by employing a recently developed Bayesian approach, BRATNextGen, for detecting recombination on an expanded NGS dataset of the globally disseminated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone ST239.

Results

The data confirm strong geographical clustering at continental, national and city scales and demonstrate that the rate of recombination varies significantly between phylogeographic sub-groups representing independent introductions from Europe. These differences are most striking

SUBMITTER: Castillo-Ramirez S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3803117 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature