This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
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 Berglund, C.
Right arrow Articles by Hiramatsu, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Berglund, C.
Right arrow Articles by Hiramatsu, K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2008, p. 3512-3516, Vol. 52, No. 10
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00087-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Novel Type of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec in a Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strain Isolated in Sweden{triangledown}

Carolina Berglund,1,2* Teruyo Ito,2,3 Megumi Ikeda,2 Xiao Xue Ma,2 Bo Söderquist,1,4 and Keiichi Hiramatsu2,3

Department of Clinical Microbiology, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden,1 Department of Infection Control Science, Juntendo University, Postgraduate School, Tokyo, Japan,2 Department of Bacteriology, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan,3 Department of Infectious Diseases, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden4

Received 21 January 2008/ Returned for modification 24 March 2008/ Accepted 27 July 2008

We identified a novel type of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element carried by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain JCSC6082 isolated in Sweden. The SCCmec element was demarcated by characteristic nucleotide sequences at both ends and was integrated at the 3' end of orfX. The element carried a novel combination of a type 5 ccr gene complex and class C1 mec gene complex. The J regions of the element were homologous to those of the SCCmercury element of S. aureus strain 85/2082, with nucleotide identity greater than 99%. However, the novel SCCmec element from JCSC6082 did not carry the mer operon nor Tn554, suggesting that evolution to SCCmec could have been from a common ancestor by acquisition of the class C1 mec gene complex. The novel SCCmec element from JCSC6082 was flanked by a novel SCC-like chromosome cassette (CC6082), which was demarcated by two direct repeats and could be excised from the chromosome independently of the SCCmec element. Our data suggest that novel SCCmec elements can be generated on the staphylococcal chromosome through the recombination between extant SCC elements and mec gene complexes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Örebro University Hospital, SE-701 85 Örebro, Sweden. Phone: 46 19 602 15 20. Fax: 46 19 12 74 16. E-mail: carolina.berglund{at}orebroll.se

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 August 2008.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2008, p. 3512-3516, Vol. 52, No. 10
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00087-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bartels, M. D., Boye, K., Rohde, S. M., Larsen, A. R., Torfs, H., Bouchy, P., Skov, R., Westh, H. (2009). A Common Variant of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Type IVa in Isolates from Copenhagen, Denmark, Is Not Detected by the BD GeneOhm Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Assay. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 1524-1527 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, K., McClure, J.-A., Elsayed, S., Conly, J. M. (2009). Novel Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Type, Tentatively Designated Type VIII, Harboring Class A mec and Type 4 ccr Gene Complexes in a Canadian Epidemic Strain of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 531-540 [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»