Genetic organization of the mecA region in methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus sciuri
Abstract
A homolog of the Staphylococcus aureus methicillin resistance gene mecA was recently shown to be ubiquitous in independent isolates of the animal species Staphylococcus sciuri. The mecA gene homolog and regions flanking it were cloned and sequenced from four strains of S. sciuri: strain K1 (ATCC 29062), a representative of S. sciuri subsp. sciuri; two strains (K3 and K8) representing S. sciuri subsp. rodentius; and strain K11, a representative of S. sciuri subsp. carnaticum. Strains K1 and K11 were susceptible to methicillin, while strains K3 and K8 showed heterogeneous resistance. The mecA genes of strains K1 and K11 and one of the two copies of mecA (mecA1) present in strain K3 had virtually identical DNA sequences in the mecA gene and were similar in genetic organization in the flanking regions. In contrast, the single copy of mecA in strain K8 and the second copy of mecA (mecA2) in strain K3 had mecA DNA sequences identical to that of S. aureus mecA, and the mecA region in these two strains was also similar to that of the same region in the S. aureus strain used for comparison. Interestingly, an open reading frame defining an N-terminal truncated polypeptide, NTORF101, with a high degree of homology to a DNA segment in the ...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Molecular Characterization, Evolution, and Epidemiology
Staphylococcus petrasii diagnostics and its pathogenic potential enhanced by mobile genetic elements
Partial nucleotide sequencing of the mecA genes of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from cats and dogs
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