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- Title
Transfer of the methicillin resistance genomic island among staphylococci by conjugation.
- Authors
Ray, M. D.; Boundy, S.; Archer, G. L.
- Abstract
Methicillin resistance creates a major obstacle for treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections. The resistance gene, mecA, is carried on a large (20 kb to > 60 kb) genomic island, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCC mec), that excises from and inserts site-specifically into the staphylococcal chromosome. However, although SCC mec has been designated a mobile genetic element, a mechanism for its transfer has not been defined. Here we demonstrate the capture and conjugative transfer of excised SCC mec. SCC mec was captured on pGO400, a mupirocin-resistant derivative of the pGO1/pSK41 staphylococcal conjugative plasmid lineage, and pGO400::SCCmec (pRM27) was transferred by filter-mating into both homologous and heterologous S. aureus recipients representing a range of clonal complexes as well as S. epidermidis. The DNA sequence of pRM27 showed that SCC mec had been transferred in its entirety and that its capture had occurred by recombination between IS257/431 elements present on all SCC mec types and pGO1/pSK41 conjugative plasmids. The captured SCC mec excised from the plasmid and inserted site-specifically into the chromosomal att site of both an isogenic S. aureus and a S. epidermidis recipient. These studies describe a means by which methicillin resistance can be environmentally disseminated and a novel mechanism, IS-mediated recombination, for the capture and conjugative transfer of genomic islands.
- Subjects
METHICILLIN resistance; STAPHYLOCOCCUS; STAPHYLOCOCCUS aureus infections; MUPIROCIN; NUCLEOTIDE sequence
- Publication
Molecular Microbiology, 2016, Vol 100, Issue 4, p675
- ISSN
0950-382X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/mmi.13340