Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a common human and animal opportunistic pathogen. In humans nasal carriage of S. aureus is a risk factor for various infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus ST398 is highly prevalent in pigs in Europe and North America. The mechanism of successful pig colonization by MRSA ST398 is poorly understood. Previously, we developed a nasal colonization model of porcine nasal mucosa explants to identify molecular traits involved in nasal MRSA colonization of pigs. Here, we report the analysis of the transcriptome of MRSA ST398 strain S0462 during colonization on the explant epithelium. Major regulated genes were encoding metabolic processes and regulation of these genes represents metabolic adaptation to nasal mucosa explants. Colonization was not accompanied by significant changes in transcripts of main virulence associated genes or known human colonization factors. Here, we document regulation of two genes which have potential influence on S. aureus colonization; cysteine extracellular proteinase (scpA) and von Willebrand factor-binding protein (vwbp, located on SaPIbov5). Colonization with isogenic-deletion strains (Δvwbp and ΔscpA) did not alter the nasal S. aureus colonization compared to wild type. Our results suggest that nasal colonization with MRSA ST398 is a complex event that is accompanied with changes in bacterial gene expression regulation and metabolic adaptation.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a common human and animal opportunistic pathogen. In humans nasal carriage of S. aureus is a risk factor for various infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus ST398 is highly prevalent in pigs in Europe and North America. The mechanism of successful pig colonization by MRSA ST398 is poorly understood. Previously, we developed a nasal colonization model of porcine nasal mucosa explants to identify molecular traits involved in nasal MRSA colonization of pigs. Here, we report the analysis of the transcriptome of MRSA ST398 strain S0462 during colonization on the explant epithelium. Major regulated genes were encoding metabolic processes and regulation of these genes represents metabolic adaptation to nasal mucosa explants. Colonization was not accompanied by significant changes in transcripts of main virulence associated genes or known human colonization factors. Here, we document regulation of two genes which have potential influence on S. aureus colonization; cysteine extracellular proteinase (scpA) and von Willebrand factor-binding protein (vwbp, located on SaPIbov5). Colonization with isogenic-deletion strains (Î?vwbp and Î?scpA) did not alter the nasal S. aureus colonization compared to wild type. Our results suggest that nasal colonization with MRSA ST398 is a complex event that is accompanied with changes in bacterial gene expression regulation and metabolic adaptation. Number of the samples: 5 (timepoint 0 min, 30 min, 60 min, 90 min and 180 min) in 4 replicates. 4 control samples
Project description:There is evidence that MRSA ST398 of animal origin is only capable of temporarily occupying the human nose, and it is therefore, often considered a poor human colonizer.We inoculated 16 healthy human volunteers with a mixture of the human MSSA strain 1036 (ST931, CC8) and the bovine MSSA strain 5062 (ST398, CC398), 7 weeks after a treatment with mupirocin and chlorhexidine-containing soap. Bacterial survival was studied by follow-up cultures over 21 days. The human strain 1036 was eliminated faster (median 14 days; range 2-21 days) than the bovine strain 5062 (median 21 days; range 7-21 days) but this difference was not significant (pM-bM-^@M-^J=M-bM-^@M-^J0.065). The bacterial loads were significantly higher for the bovine strain on day 7 and day 21. 4/14 volunteers (28.6%) showed elimination of both strains within 21 days. Of the 10 remaining volunteers, 5 showed no differences in bacterial counts between both strains, and in the other 5 the ST398 strain far outnumbered the human S. aureus strain. Within the 21 days of follow-up, neither human strain 1036 nor bovine strain 5062 appeared to acquire or lose any mobile genetic elements. In conclusion, S. aureus ST398 strain 5062 is capable of adequately competing for a niche with a human strain and survives in the human nose for at least 21 days. [Data is also available from http://bugs.sgul.ac.uk/E-BUGS-131]
Project description:Background: Bacterial small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) have been implicated in important processes including antimicrobial stress response. However, the full extent of sRNA involvement in antimicrobial response in Staphylococcus aureus, an important pathogen, is incompletely understood. We investigated the transcriptional profiles of a linezolid-resistant, livestock-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (LA-MRSA) strain ST398 under conditions of linezolid stress. Methods: Cells in mid-exponential growth were subjected to low (8 µg/ml) and high (16 µg/ml) dose linezolid treatments followed by high throughput RNA sequencing. Read mapping and differential expression analysis were performed followed by detection and interrogation of various sRNA and mRNA transcripts. Results: Twenty-three putative regulatory RNA transcripts were expressed under low- and high-dose exposure conditions. Cis-acting regulatory elements, mainly targeting ribosomal biogenesis constituted the majority of transcriptional response with limited antisense and small RNA expression. Conclusions: This is the first study to investigate linezolid-responsive small RNA transcription in LA-MRSA strain ST398 and the first to query regulatory RNAs on a background of linezolid resistance. It provides preliminary insights and a basis for interrogating small RNAs in other strains in the quest to understand drug-responsive regulatory RNAs and identify potential anti-staphylococcal therapeutic candidates.
Project description:Previous studies have documented the diversity of genetic background of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains associated with healthcare (HA-MRSA), community (CA-MRSA) and livestock (LA-MRSA). The accessory and core-variable genome content of those strains remain largely unknown. To compare the composition of accessory and core-variable genome of Belgian MRSA strains according to host, population setting and genetic background, representative strains of HA- (n=21), CA- (n = 13) and ST398 LA-MRSA (n = 18) were characterized by a DNA-microarray (StaphVar Array) composed of oligonucleotide probes targeting ~400 resistance, adhesion and virulence associated genes.ST398 strains displayed very homogenous hybridization profiles (>94% gene content homology) irrespective of their host origin. This “ST398-specific” genomic profile was not distantly demarked from those of certain human-associated lineages but lacked several virulence- and colonization-associated genes harbored by strains of human origin, such as genes encoding proteases, haemolysins or adhesins. No enterotoxin gene was found among ST398 strains. In conclusion, our findings are consistent with a non-human origin of this ST398 lineage but suggest that it might have the potential to adapt further to the human host.