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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, June 2008, p. 2061-2068, Vol. 52, No. 6
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01150-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus saprophyticus Isolates Carrying Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Have Emerged in Urogenital Tract Infections

Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan,¹ Kotobiken Medical Laboratories Inc., 445-1 Kamiyokoba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0854, Japan,² Laboratory of Bacterial Genomics, Center for Pathogen Genomics, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan,³ Department of Microbiology, Kohjin Bio Co., Ltd., 5-1-3 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama 350-0214, Japan,⁴ Department of Bacteriology, BML, Inc., 1361-1 Matoba, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama 350-1101, Japan⁵

Received 30 August 2007/ Returned for modification 28 October 2007/ Accepted 15 March 2008

Staphylococcus saprophyticus is a uropathogenic bacterium that causes acute uncomplicated urinary tract infections, particularly in female outpatients. We investigated the dissemination and antimicrobial susceptibilities of 101 S. saprophyticus isolates from the genitourinary tracts of patients in Japan. Eight of these isolates were mecA positive and showed β-lactam resistance. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that only some isolates were isogenic, indicating that the mecA gene was apparently acquired independently by mecA-positive isolates through staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec). Type determination of SCCmec by multiplex PCR showed a nontypeable element in the eight mecA-positive isolates. Sequence analysis of the entire SCCmec element from a prototype S. saprophyticus strain revealed that it was nontypeable with the current SCCmec classification due to the novel composition of the class A mec gene complex (IS431-mecA-mecR1-mecI genes) and the ccrA1/ccrB3 gene complex. Intriguingly, the attachment sites of SCCmec are similar to those of type I SCCmec in S. aureus NCTC 10442. Furthermore, the genes around the mec gene complex are similar to those of type II/III SCCmec in S. aureus, while those around the ccr gene complex are similar to those of SCC15305RM found in S. saprophyticus ATCC 15305. In comparison with known SCCmec elements, this S. saprophyticus SCCmec is a novel type.

Published ahead of print on 24 March 2008.