Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-zlgnt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-30T23:54:35.694Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genomic diversity of mec regulator genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

N. Kobayashi ,
K. Taniguchi ,
K. Kojima ,
S. Urasawa ,
N. Uehara ,
Y. Omizu ,
Y. Kishi ,
A. Yagihashi ,
I. Kurokawa  and
N. Watanabe
N. Kobayashi
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-17, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
K. Taniguchi
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-17, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
K. Kojima
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-17, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
S. Urasawa
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-17, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
N. Uehara
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
Y. Omizu
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
Y. Kishi
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
A. Yagihashi
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
I. Kurokawa
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
N. Watanabe
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Low-affinity penicillin-binding protein PBP-2a encoded by mecA is closely related to methicillin resistance in staphylococci, and expression of PBP-2a is controlled by regulator elements encoded by mecRl and mecI which are located adjacent to mecA on the chromosome. Deletion or mutation which occurred in mec regulator gene is considered to be associated with constitutive production of PBP-2a. The distribution of the mec regulator genes in 176 strains of Staphylococcus aureus and 33 strains of S. epidermidis isolated from a single hospital was studied by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Most clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (94.3 %) and S. epidermidis (MRSE) (83.9 %) possessed both mecI and mecR1 genes (type I), whereas no mec regulator genes were detected in mecA-negative isolates. In contrast, 7 MRSA and 5 MRSE isolates were found to have incomplete regulator genes, and they were classified into three groups; strains which lacked only mecI gene (type II), strains which lacked mecIand 3'-end of mecR1 gene (type III), and strains which lacked both regulator genes (type IV). Analysis of mecI gene from all the strains having mecI by restriction fragment length polymorphism after Mse I digestion indicated that three MRSA strains possessed one of the known point mutations identified previously. These findings indicated the predominance of a single type of MRSA possessing both mecI and mecR1 in the study period and also suggested a high genomic diversity in mec regulator region of staphylococci.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 117 , Issue 2 , October 1996 , pp. 289 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

References

1.Maple, PC, Hamilton-Miller, JM, Brumfitt, W. Worldwide antibiotic resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Lancet 1989. 1: 537–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Archer, GL. Molecular epidemiology of multiresistant Staphylococcus epidermidis. J Antimicrob Chemother 1988; 21 (Suppl. C): 133–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Hartman, BJ,Tomasz, A. Low-affinity penicillin-binding protein associated with β-lactam resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol 1984; 158: 513–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Inglis, B, Matthews, PR, Stewart, PR. The expression in Staphylococcus aureus of cloned DNA encoding methicillin resistance. J Gen Microbiol 1988; 134: 1465–9.Google ScholarPubMed
5.Tesch, W, Strässle, A, Berger-Bächi, B, O'Hara, D, Reynolds, P, Kayser, FH. Cloning and expression of methicillin resistance from Staphylococcus epidermidis in Staphylococcus carnosus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1988; 32: 1494–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Ubukata, K, Nonoguchi, R, Mitsuhashi, M, Konno, M. Expression and inducibility in Staphylococcus aureus of the mecA gene, which encodes a methicillin-resistant S. aureus specific penicillin-binding protein. J Bacteriol 1989; 171: 2882–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.de Jonge, BLM, Chang, Y-S, Gage, D, Tomasz, A. Peptidoglycan composition of a highly methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus strain. The role of penicillin-binding protein 2A. J Biol Chem 1992; 267:11248–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Ryffel, C, Tesch, W, Brich-Machin, I et al. Sequence comparison of mecA genes isolated from methicillinresistant S. aureus and S. epidermidis. Gene 1990; 94:137–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Song, MD, Wachi, M, Doi, M, Ishino, F, Matsuhashi, M. Evolution of an inducible penicillin-target protein in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by gene fusion. FEBS Lett 1987; 221: 167–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Suzuki, E, Hiramatsu, K, Yokota, T. Survey of methicillin-resistant clinical strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci for mecA gene distribution. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1992; 36: 429–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Berger-Bächi, B, Barberis-Maino, L, Strässle, A, Kayser, FH. FemA, a host-mediated factor essential for methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus: Molecular cloning and characterization. Mol Gen Genet 1989; 219: 263–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Berger-Bächi, B, Strässle, A, Gustafson, JE, Kayser, FH. Mapping and characterization of multiple chromosomal factors involved in methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1992; 36: 1367–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Tomasz, A. Auxiliary genes assisting in the expression of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. In: Novick, RP ed. Molecular biology of the staphylococci. New York: VCH Publishers Inc., 1990: 565–83.Google Scholar
14.Hiramatsu, K, Asada, K, Suzuki, E, Okonogi, K, Yokota, T. Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence determination of the regulator region of mecA gene in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). FEBS Lett 1992; 298: 133–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Ryffel, C, Kayser, FH, Berger-Bächi, B. Correlation between regulation of mecA transcription and expression of methicillin resistance in staphylococci. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1992; 36: 25–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Tesch, W, Ryffel, C, Strässle, A, Kayser, FH, Berger-Bächi, B. Evidence of a novel staphylococcal mecencoded element (mecR) controlling expression of penicillin-binding protein 2′. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1990; 34: 1703–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Hürlimann-DaIel, RL, Ryffel, C, Kayser, FH, Berger-Bächi, B. Survey of the methicillin resistance-associated genes mecA, mecR1-mecI, and femA-femB in clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1992; 36: 2617–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Suzuki, E, Kuwahara-Arai, K, Richardson, JF, Hiramatsu, K. Distribution of mec regulator genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus clinical strains. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1993; 37: 1219–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Archer, GL, Niemeyer, DM, Thanassi, JA, Pucci, MJ. Dissemination among staphylococci of DNA sequences associated with methicillin resistance. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1994; 38: 447–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Kobayashi, N, Wu, H, Kojima, K et al. Detection of mecA, femA and femB genes in clinical strains of staphylococci using polymerase chain reaction. Epidemiol Infect 1994; 113: 259–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Hiramatsu, K, Kihara, H, Yokota, T.Analysis of borderline-resistant strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using polymerase chain reaction. Microbiol Immunol 1992; 36: 445–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Richard, P, Meyran, M, Carpentier, E, Thabaut, A, Drugeon, HB. Comparison of phenotypic methods and DNA hybridization for detection of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol 1994; 32: 613–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Jevons, MP. “Celbenin”-resistant staphylococci. BMJ 1961; i: 124–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Kreiswirth, B, Kornblum, J, Arbeit, RD et al. Evidence for a clonal origin of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Science 1993; 259: 227– 30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25.Carles-Nurit, MJ, Christophle, B, Broche, S, Gouby, A, Bouziges, N, Ramuz, M.DNA polymorphisms in methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol 1992; 30: 2092–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.Lacey, RW, Grinsted, J. Genetic analysis of methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus; evidence for their evolution from a single clone. J Med Microbiol 1973; 6: 511–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Coia, JE, Noor-Hussain, I, Platt, DJ. Plasmid profiles and restriction enzyme fragmentation patterns of plasmids of methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from hospital and the community. J Med Microbiol 1988; 27: 271–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28.Dominguez, MA, de Lencastre, H, Linares, J, Tomasz, A.Spread and maintenance of a dominant methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone during an outbreak of MRSA disease in a Spanish hospital. J Clin Microbiol 1994; 32: 2081–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Musser, JM, Kapur, V.Clonal analysis of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from intercontinental sources: association of the mec gene with divergent phylogenetic lineages implies dissemination by horizontal transfer and recombination. J Clin Microbiol 1992; 30: 2058–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed