title: Nucleotide Sequence Variations in Autolysis Genes of ST59 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates.
abstract: Biofilm formation is a virulence factor of bacteria. The goal of this study was to understand the mechanisms of biofilm formation by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Whole-genome sequencing of eight MRSA strains was performed to identify sequence variations in genes related to biofilm formation. Thirty-one genes involved in MRSA biofilm formation were analyzed and 11 amino acid sequence variations in four genes related to autolysis were found. These variations include E121D and H387 N in ArlS; Q117K, T424S, K428T, A509S, V752E, A754V, and T771A in Atl; T184K in CidC; and D251N in CidR. Among the 26 clinical MRSA isolates studied, 13 isolates were nonbiofilm producers and were found to harbor these mutations. Furthermore, all of these 13 isolates belonged to ST59. Ten of these 13 ST59 isolates became able to produce biofilms when they were incubated with extracellular DNA from MRSA N315. Results of this study suggest that sequence variations in arlS, atl, cidC, and cidR genes may render MRSA unable to produce biofilms. Further investigations are needed to correlate these sequence variations with the biofilm-forming ability of MRSA isolates.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Lee-Chung
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Jwu-Ching
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Taoyuan, Taiwan .|2 Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Shih-Cheng
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Mao-Cheng
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Tsui-Ping
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Chien-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital , Taoyuan, Taiwan .|2 Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University , Taoyuan, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Jang-Jih
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence / Q000235:genetics*; D018441:Biofilms; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D000073336:Whole Genome Sequencing / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: MRSA; ST59; biofilm; eDNA