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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, February 2009, p. 531-540, Vol. 53, No. 2
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01118-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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{triangledown}

Kunyan Zhang,1,2,3,4,5,6* Jo-Ann McClure,1 Sameer Elsayed,2,3,4,5 and John M. Conly1,2,3,4,5,6

Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance, Calgary Health Region/Calgary Laboratory Services/University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada,1 Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,2 Microbiology and Infectious Diseases,3 Medicine,4 the Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada,5 Calgary Laboratory Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada6

Received 20 August 2008/ Returned for modification 2 November 2008/ Accepted 30 November 2008

Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) is a mobile genetic element characterized by flanking terminal direct and, in most cases, inverted repeat sequences, the mec and ccr gene complexes, and their surrounding DNA regions. Unique combinations of the mec and ccr gene complexes generate various SCCmec types. Six SCCmec types have been reported to date. We describe here a novel SCCmec type identified in a Canadian methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) epidemic strain. MRSA clinical isolates were screened for known SCCmec types by multiplex and conventional PCR methods. Three phenotypically and genotypically identical MRSA clinical isolates with a pulsotype identical to CMRSA9 were identified locally and found to be nontypeable by available SCCmec typing schemes. Complete sequencing of the SCCmec element revealed a nucleotide fragment of 32,168 bp integrated at an identical chromosomal integration site (attBscc) at the 3' end of the orfX gene. The nucleotide sequences at the chromosome-SCCmec junction regions were typical of other SCCmec types, but the element harbored a unique combination of class A mec and type 4 ccr gene complexes. Sequence recombination analysis suggested that this unique SCCmec type may be derived from homologous recombination between the previously described SCCRP62A of S. epidermidis strain RP62A and SCC composite island of S. epidermidis ATCC 12228, respectively, or via recombination of other staphylococcal strains that carry the same or similar mobile cassettes. We identified a previously undescribed type of SCCmec from isolate C10682, tentatively designated type VIII, and we provide compelling evidence supporting the ability of SCC elements to transfer horizontally or undergo recombination to generate new SCCmec types.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, HMRB-B07, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1. Phone: (403) 210-8484. Fax: (403) 210-7661. E-mail: kzhang{at}ucalgary.ca

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 8 December 2008.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, February 2009, p. 531-540, Vol. 53, No. 2
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.01118-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Soge, O. O., Meschke, J. S., No, D. B., Roberts, M. C. (2009). Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. isolated from US West Coast public marine beaches. J Antimicrob Chemother 64: 1148-1155 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • International Working Group on the Classification, (2009). Classification of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec): Guidelines for Reporting Novel SCCmec Elements. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 4961-4967 [Full Text]  
  • Chen, L., Mediavilla, J. R., Oliveira, D. C., Willey, B. M., de Lencastre, H., Kreiswirth, B. N. (2009). Multiplex Real-Time PCR for Rapid Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Typing. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 3692-3706 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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