Comprehensive identification of mutations responsible for heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA)-to-VISA conversion in laboratory-generated VISA strains derived from hVISA clinical strain Mu3.

ABSTRACT: Heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) spontaneously produces VISA cells within its cell population at a frequency of 10(-6) or greater. We established a total of 45 VISA mutant strains independently obtained from hVISA Mu3 and its related strains by one-step vancomycin selection. We then performed high-throughput whole-genome sequencing of the 45 strains and their parent strains to identify the genes involved in the hVISA-to-VISA phenotypic conversion. A comparative genome study showed that all the VISA strains tested carried a unique set of mutations. All of the 45 VISA strains carried 1 to 4 mutations possibly affecting the expression of a total of 48 genes. Among them, 32 VISA strains carried only one gene affected by a single mutation. As many as 20 genes

SUBMITTER: Matsuo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3837870 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature