title: Complete genome of Staphylococcus aureus Tager 104 provides evidence of its relation to modern systemic hospital-acquired strains.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infections range in severity due to expression of certain virulence factors encoded on mobile genetic elements (MGE). As such, characterization of these MGE, as well as single nucleotide polymorphisms, is of high clinical and microbiological importance. To understand the evolution of these dangerous pathogens, it is paramount to define reference strains that may predate MGE acquisition. One such candidate is S. aureus Tager 104, a previously uncharacterized strain isolated from a patient with impetigo in 1947.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We show here that S. aureus Tager 104 can survive in the bloodstream and infect naïve organs. We also demonstrate a procedure to construct and validate the assembly of S. aureus genomes, using Tager 104 as a proof-of-concept. In so doing, we bridged confounding gap regions that limited our initial attempts to close this 2.82 Mb genome, through integration of data from Illumina Nextera paired-end, PacBio RS, and Lucigen NxSeq mate-pair libraries. Furthermore, we provide independent confirmation of our segmental arrangement of the Tager 104 genome by the sole use of Lucigen NxSeq libraries filled by paired-end MiSeq reads and alignment with SPAdes software. Genomic analysis of Tager 104 revealed limited MGE, and a νSaβ island configuration that is reminiscent of other hospital acquired S. aureus genomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tager 104 represents an early-branching ancestor of certain hospital-acquired strains. Combined with its earlier isolation date and limited content of MGE, Tager 104 can serve as a viable reference for future comparative genome studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, 4306 Walker Building, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. davisri@auburn.edu.
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, 4306 Walker Building, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. adb0009@auburn.edu.
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Brannen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 101 Rouse Life Science Building, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. mjh0007@auburn.edu.
authors.forename: Mohammad J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.affiliation: Lucigen Corporation, 2905 Parmenter St, Middleton, WI, 53562, USA. smonsma@lucigen.com.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monsma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA. paul.bock@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Simches Research Building, 185 Cambridge St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA. mnahrendorf@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nahrendorf
authors.affiliation: Lucigen Corporation, 2905 Parmenter St, Middleton, WI, 53562, USA. dmead@lucigen.com.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mead
authors.affiliation: Lucigen Corporation, 2905 Parmenter St, Middleton, WI, 53562, USA. mlodes@lucigen.com.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lodes
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 101 Rouse Life Science Building, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. lilesma@auburn.edu.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Liles
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, 4306 Walker Building, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. panizzi@auburn.edu.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panizzi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D015723:Gene Library; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D020543:Proteome; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012984:Software; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome