title: Immune evasion cluster-positive bacteriophages are highly prevalent among human Staphylococcus aureus strains, but they are not essential in the first stages of nasal colonization.
abstract: The Staphylococcus aureus immune evasion cluster (IEC), located on β-haemolysin-converting bacteriophages (βC-Φs), encodes the immune-modulating proteins chemotaxis inhibitory protein, staphylococcal complement inhibitor (SCIN), staphylococcal enterotoxin A and staphylokinase. Its precise role in S. aureus colonization is unclear. We studied the presence of the IEC-carrying bacteriophages in human and animal S. aureus isolates, using PCR for the gene encoding SCIN (scn). Human isolates were obtained by collecting serial nasal swabs from 21 persistent carriers. S. aureus strains from 19 (90%) persistent carriers contained an IEC that was present and indistinguishable in 95% of cases at all five sampling moments over a 3-month period. Of the 77 infectious animal strains included in the study, only 26 strains (34%) were IEC-positive. Integration of these IEC-positive strains into an amplified fragment length polymorphism genotype database showed that 24 of 53 (45%) strains were human-associated and only two of 24 (8%) were 'true' animal isolates (p < 0.001). The high prevalence and stability of IEC-carrying βC-Φs in human strains suggested a role for these βC-Φs in human nasal colonization. To test this hypothesis, 23 volunteers were colonized artificially with S. aureus strain NCTC 8325-4 with or without the IEC type B-carrying βC-Φ13. Intranasal survival was monitored for 28 days after inoculation. The strain harbouring βC-Φ13 was eliminated significantly faster (median 4 days; range 1-14 days) than the strain without βC-Φ13 (median 14 days; range 2-28 days; p 0.011). In conclusion, although IEC-carrying βC-Φs are highly prevalent among human colonizing S. aureus strains, they are not essential in the first stages of S. aureus nasal colonization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. n.j.verkaik@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Verkaik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benard
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Boelens
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: de Vogel
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nouwen
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Verbrugh
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Melles
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Belkum
authors.forename: W J B
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: van Wamel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D005810:Multigene Family; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D057805:Pets; D013108:Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000821:virology*; D013204:Staphylococcus Phages / Q000235:genetics*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000821:virology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C493134:chemotaxis inhibitory protein, Staphylococcus aureus; C026066:enterotoxin A, Staphylococcal; D013108:Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase; C029878:hlb protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; C022653:auR protein, Staphylococcus aureus