The transduction mediated by bacteriophages is considered to be one of the primary driving forces in horizontal gene transfer in staphylococci, which is crucial to their adaptation and successful evolution. For a transduction to be effective, it is generally accepted that the recipient strain should be susceptible to the transducing phage. In this study, we demonstrate that the plasmid DNAs are effectively transduced into the recipient Staphylococcus aureus strains in spite of their insensitivity to the lytic action of the transducing phage, provided that these phages adsorb effectively to the bacterial cells. The tetracycline and penicillinase plasmids were transduced to insensitive laboratory and clinical strains by bacteriophages ϕ29, ϕ52A and ϕ80α as well as by prophage ϕ53 and naturally occurring prophages induced from donor lysogenic strains. Comparable frequencies of transduction were achieved in both phage-sensitive and phage-insensitive recipient strains. We have demonstrated that such mechanisms as the restriction of DNA and lysogenic immunity which are responsible for insensitivity of cells to phages may not be a barrier to the transfer, maintenance and effective spread of plasmids to a wider range of potential recipients in the staphylococcal population.

• MeSH
• antibakteriální látky farmakologie   MeSH
• lyzogenie MeSH
• mnohočetná bakteriální léková rezistence MeSH
• penicilinasa genetika   MeSH
• plazmidy * MeSH
• profágy genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• stafylokokové bakteriofágy genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• stafylokokové infekce mikrobiologie   MeSH
• Staphylococcus aureus genetika   virologie   MeSH
• tetracyklin farmakologie   MeSH
• transdukce genetická * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

The Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) confers methicillin resistance to Staphylococcus aureus. While SCCmec is generally regarded as a mobile genetic element, the precise mechanisms by which large SCCmec elements are exchanged between staphylococci have remained enigmatic. In the present studies, we observed that the clinical methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolate UMCG-M4 with the sequence type 398 contains four prophages belonging to the serological groups A, B and Fa. Previous studies have shown that certain serological group B bacteriophages of S. aureus are capable of generalized transduction. We therefore assessed the transducing capabilities of the phages from strain UMCG-M4. The results show that some of these phages can indeed transduce plasmid pT181 to the recipient S. aureus strain RN4220. Therefore, we also investigated the possible involvement of these transducing phages in the transmission of the large SCCmec type V (5C2&5) element of S. aureus UMCG-M4. While no transduction of the complete SCCmec element was observed, we were able to demonstrate that purified phage particles did contain large parts of the SCCmec element of the donor strain, including the methicillin resistance gene mecA. This shows that staphylococcal phages can encapsulate the resistance determinant mecA of a large SCCmec type V (5C2&5) element, which may lead to its transfer to other staphylococci.

• MeSH
• bakteriální geny * MeSH
• methicilin rezistentní Staphylococcus aureus genetika   virologie   MeSH
• plazmidy MeSH
• profágy genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• rezistence na methicilin MeSH
• sestavení viru * MeSH
• stafylokokové bakteriofágy klasifikace   genetika   MeSH
• transdukce genetická * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

• MeSH
• bakteriofág lambda fyziologie   genetika   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lyzogenie fyziologie   genetika   MeSH
• profágy fyziologie   genetika   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH