Structural comparison of three types of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec integrated in the chromosome in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: The beta-lactam resistance gene mecA of Staphylococcus aureus is carried by a novel mobile genetic element, designated staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), identified in the chromosome of a Japanese methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain. We now report identification of two additional types of mecA-carrying genetic elements found in the MRSA strains isolated in other countries of the world. There were substantial differences in the size and nucleotide sequences between the elements and the SCCmec. However, new elements shared the chromosomal integration site with the SCCmec. Structural analysis of the new elements revealed that they possessed all of the salient features of the SCCmec: conserved terminal inverted repeats and direct repeats at the integration junction poin

SUBMITTER: Ito T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC90469 | biostudies-literature | 2001 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature