title: Presence of arginine catabolic mobile element among community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is linked to a specific genetic background.
abstract: The prevalence of arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME) among diverse and heterogeneous community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus community-associated Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) (n = 114) in a low-endemic area, i.e. Sweden, was investigated. Among the CA-MRSA, represented by 47 different spa types, ACME was only found in 10 isolates with a common genetic background [t008, SCCmec type IV, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive, and indistinguishable or closely related pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)-patterns] corresponding to USA300. This strain does not seem to be established in our area as most of the patients contracted the CA-MRSA abroad. Presence of ACME does not seem to be associated with colonization, long-term carriership, or intra-familiar transmission in a higher extent than CA-MRSA in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hedlund
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hellmark
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Söderquist
mesh_terms: D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D020071:Interspersed Repetitive Sequences / Q000235:genetics*; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000235:genetics; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin; D001120:Arginine