title: Transfer of mupirocin resistance from Staphylococcus haemolyticus clinical strains to Staphylococcus aureus through conjugative and mobilizable plasmids.
abstract: Coagulase-negative staphylococci are thought to act as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes that can be transferred to Staphylococcus aureus, thus hindering the combat of this bacterium. In this work, we analyzed the presence of plasmids conferring resistance to the antibiotic mupirocin-widely used to treat and prevent S. aureus infections in hospital environments-in nosocomial S. haemolyticus strains. About 12% of the 75 strains tested were resistant to mupirocin, and this phenotype was correlated with the presence of plasmids. These plasmids were shown to be diverse, being either conjugative or mobilizable, and capable of transferring mupirocin resistance to S. aureus Our findings reinforce that S. haemolyticus, historically and mistakenly considered as a less important pathogen, is a reservoir of resistance genes which can be transferred to other bacteria, such as S. aureus, emphasizing the necessity of more effective strategies to detect and combat this emergent opportunistic pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21491-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ciro C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21491-590, Brazil Departamento de Biotecnologia Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natália C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Divisão de Biologia Molecular e Correlatos (DIMOL), Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20090-910, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcus L V
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21491-590, Brazil Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Centro Biomédico, Vitoria, ES 23043-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Schuenck
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21491-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria do Carmo de F
authors.initials: Mdo C
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21491-590, Brazil marciagm@micro.ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giambiagi-deMarval
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D023061:Gene Order; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D016712:Mupirocin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D041162:Staphylococcus haemolyticus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C480380:mupA protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D016712:Mupirocin
keywords: CoNS; mupirocin; plasmid; resistance; staphylococci