This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Robinson, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Bessen, D. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Robinson, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Bessen, D. E.

Next Article 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 2006, p. 2903-2911, Vol. 50, No. 9
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00325-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evolution and Global Dissemination of Macrolide-Resistant Group A Streptococci{dagger}

D. Ashley Robinson,1 Joyce A. Sutcliffe,2 Wezenet Tewodros,1,{ddagger} Anand Manoharan,1,§ and Debra E. Bessen1*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York,1 Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., New Haven, Connecticut2

Received 16 March 2006/ Returned for modification 5 June 2006/ Accepted 18 June 2006

Macrolide-resistant group A streptococci (MRGAS) have been recovered from many countries worldwide. However, the strain typing information that is available has been insufficient for estimating the total number of macrolide-resistant clones, their geographic distributions, and their evolutionary relationships. In this study, sequence-based strain typing was used to characterize 212 MRGAS isolates from 34 countries. Evaluation of clonal complexes, emm type, and resistance gene content [erm(A), erm(B), mef(A), and undefined] indicate that macrolide resistance was acquired by GAS organisms via ≥49 independent genetic events. In contrast to other collections of mostly susceptible GAS, genetic diversification of MRGAS clones has occurred primarily by mutation rather than by recombination. Twenty-two MRGAS clonal complexes were recovered from more than one continent; intercontinental strains represent nearly 80% of the MRGAS isolates under study. The findings suggest that horizontal transfer of macrolide resistance genes to numerous genetic backgrounds and global dissemination of resistant clones and their descendants are both major components of the present-day macrolide resistance problem found within this species.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595. Phone: (914) 594-4193. Fax: (914) 594-4176. E-mail: debra_bessen{at}nymc.edu.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aac.asm.org/.

{ddagger} Present address: Spartan Health Science University School of Medicine, Vieux Fort, St. Lucia, West Indies.

§ Present address: Department of Medicine Unit I and Infectious Diseases, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 2006, p. 2903-2911, Vol. 50, No. 9
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00325-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ahmad, Y., Gertz, R. E. Jr., Li, Z., Sakota, V., Broyles, L. N., Van Beneden, C., Facklam, R., Shewmaker, P. L., Reingold, A., Farley, M. M., Beall, B. W. (2009). Genetic Relationships Deduced from emm and Multilocus Sequence Typing of Invasive Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis and S. canis Recovered from Isolates Collected in the United States. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 2046-2054 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brown, D. F. J., Hope, R., Livermore, D. M., Brick, G., Broughton, K., George, R. C., Reynolds, R., on behalf of the BSAC Working Parties on Resistanc, (2008). Non-susceptibility trends among enterococci and non-pneumococcal streptococci from bacteraemias in the UK and Ireland, 2001-06. J Antimicrob Chemother 62: ii75-ii85 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Woodbury, R. L., Klammer, K. A., Xiong, Y., Bailiff, T., Glennen, A., Bartkus, J. M., Lynfield, R., Van Beneden, C., Beall, B. W., for the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance Team, (2008). Plasmid-Borne erm(T) from Invasive, Macrolide-Resistant Streptococcus pyogenes Strains. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1140-1143 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Camilli, R., Del Grosso, M., Iannelli, F., Pantosti, A. (2008). New Genetic Element Carrying the Erythromycin Resistance Determinant erm(TR) in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 619-625 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tomita, T., Meehan, B., Wongkattiya, N., Malmo, J., Pullinger, G., Leigh, J., Deighton, M. (2008). Identification of Streptococcus uberis Multilocus Sequence Types Highly Associated with Mastitis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 114-124 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ayer, V., Tewodros, W., Manoharan, A., Skariah, S., Luo, F., Bessen, D. E. (2007). Tetracycline Resistance in Group A Streptococci: Emergence on a Global Scale and Influence on Multiple-Drug Resistance. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 1865-1868 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kratovac, Z., Manoharan, A., Luo, F., Lizano, S., Bessen, D. E. (2007). Population Genetics and Linkage Analysis of Loci within the FCT Region of Streptococcus pyogenes. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1299-1310 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Euler, C. W., Ryan, P. A., Martin, J. M., Fischetti, V. A. (2007). M.SpyI, a DNA Methyltransferase Encoded on a mefA Chimeric Element, Modifies the Genome of Streptococcus pyogenes. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1044-1054 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»