title: Analysis of the features of 45 identified CRISPR loci in 32 Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common pathogen that can cause serious infections, even death. Because of the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of antibiotic resistance genes, the drug resistant condition is becoming increasingly prevalent. Recently, an adaptive immunity system, named clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), was discovered and demonstrated to confer a defense against foreign invading elements that may carry the antibiotic resistance genes. In this study, we reveal the features of 45 identified CRISPR loci and the CRISPR associated gene (Cas) in 32 S. aureus strains from CRISPR database. Five spacers of S. aureus 08BA02176 and MSHR1132 were homologous with foreign genetic sequences from phages or plasmids, even containing a spacer sequence identical to part of some phages' genomes containing lukPV gene that encodes the PVL toxin. Many S. aureus strains with the same CRISPR type shared the same MLST type. CRISPR loci that had 3 or more similar protein loci mostly belonged to the same CRISPR type. We came to the conclusion that the CRISPR/Cas of strains 08BA02176 and MSHR1132 were inherited from a common ancestor or recombined from Staphylococcus lugdunensis. CRISPR loci can be mobilized and can transfer among different but closely related species, and the same types of MLST strains exhibit a higher affinity to the same types of CRISPR loci. Bacteriophages may be the predominant challenge facing S. aureus. The CRISPR/Cas structure may limit the transmission of bacterial virulence among S. aureus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Siyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Fuye
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Guangcai
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Electronic address: yhy@zzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D064112:Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000235:genetics; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D020871:RNA Stability; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D013204:Staphylococcus Phages / Q000235:genetics; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin; D012329:RNA, Bacterial
keywords: CRISPR/Cas; Genomes; MLST; Spacer; Staphylococcus aureus