Evolution and pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus: lessons learned from genotyping and comparative genomics.
Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen and the major causative agent of numerous hospital- and community-acquired infections. Multilocus sequence typing reveals a highly clonal structure for S. aureus. Although infrequently occurring across clonal complexes, homologous recombination still contributed to the evolution of this species over the long term. agr-mediated bacterial interference has divided S. aureus into four groups, which are independent of clonality and provide another view on S. aureus evolution. Genome sequencing of nine S. aureus strains has helped identify a number of virulence factors, but the key determinants for infection are still unknown. Comparison of commensal and pathogenic strains shows no difference in diversity or clonal assignments. Thus, phage dynamics and global transcriptome shifts are considered to be responsible for the pathogenicity. Community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (C-MRSA) is characterized by a short SCCmec and the presence of a Panton-Valentine leukocidin locus, but no studies have proven their exact biologic roles in C-MRSA infection, indicating the existence of other mechanisms for the genesis of C-MRSA.
Feng
Ye
Y
James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Chen
Chih-Jung
CJ
Su
Lin-Hui
LH
Hu
Songnian
S
Yu
Jun
J
Chiu
Cheng-Hsun
CH
D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D001435:Bacteriophages; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D044404:Genomic Islands; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000502:physiology; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology
C095698:Agr protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D037521:Virulence Factors