Genetic characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
The genome structure of Staphylococcus aureus is analyzed. The genome is composed of two domains. The first domain, descendent from an ancestral bacterial species, contains house-keeping genes that showed highest homology to those of Bacillus species. The second domain contained the genes responsible for virulence and drug-resistance in human infection that seems to have been acquired from other bacterial species via lateral gene transfer. The latter domain constitutes the genetic information that makes S. aureus a notorious hospital pathogen.
Hiramatsu
Keiichi
K
Department of Bacteriology, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 113-8421. kiram@med.juntendo.ac.jp
Watanabe
Shinya
S
Takeuchi
Fumihiko
F
Ito
Teruyo
T
Baba
Tadashi
T
D005075:Biological Evolution; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D003030:Coagulase / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics*
D003030:Coagulase