title: Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) update: New insights into bacterial adaptation and therapeutic targets.
abstract: Successful meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones have evolved to adapt to healthcare, community and livestock environments. This review will bring together recent studies into clone adaptation and the importance of genes acquired during horizontal gene transfer to survival in specific environments. It will also discuss the role of global regulators controlling virulence gene expression and resistance to antibiotics, such as the agr and vraRS systems. Understanding these processes in successful clones could reveal novel targets for therapeutic agents, which are urgently required to reduce the infection burden and improve treatment options.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Microbiology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Purrello
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Section of Infectious Diseases, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Daum
authors.affiliation: Scottish MRSA Reference Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: G F S
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine Laennec, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lina
authors.affiliation: Infection and Immunity, Division of Clinical Science, St George's, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Microbiology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: stefanis@unict.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stefani
keywords: Horizontal gene transfer; MRSA; PVL; Panton–Valentine leukocidin; agr locus; vraRS