Genes Influencing Phage Host Range in Staphylococcus aureus on a Species-Wide Scale.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen that causes serious diseases, ranging from skin infections to septic shock. Bacteriophages (phages) are both natural killers of S. aureus, offering therapeutic possibilities, and important vectors of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the species. Here, we used high-throughput approaches to understand the genetic basis of strain-to-strain variation in sensitivity to phages, which defines the host range. We screened 259 diverse S. aureus strains covering more than 40 sequence types for sensitivity to eight phages, which were representatives of the three phage classes that infect the species. The phages were variable in host range, each infecting between 73 and 257 strains. Using genome-wide association approaches, we identified p

SUBMITTER: Moller AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7845607 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature