Transduction of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec elements between strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a well-known public health concern. However, the means by which methicillin resistance genes are transferred among staphylococci in nature remains unknown. Older scientific literature suggests transduction as a means of mecA transfer, but the optimal conditions are reported to require plasmids and potentially a lysogenic phage. These reports preceded discovery of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) elements. We undertook studies to confirm and clarify the conditions promoting transduction of SCCmec in S. aureus populations using well-characterized donor and recipient strains primarily of the USA300 lineage. Both bacteriophages 80α and 29 were capable of transducing SCCmec type IV and SCCmec type I to recipient strains of

SUBMITTER: Scharn CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3811280 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature