Thymineless bacteriophage induction in Staphylococcus aureus. I. High-frequency transduction with lysates containing a bacteriophage related to bacteriophage phi 11.

A thymine-requiring mutant of Staphylococcus aureus, strain 8325 (PI258)thy, undergoes prophage induction and lysis after thymine starvation. Four different phages were isolated from the lysate in low titers, among which was a phage designated phi 14, which differs from phage phi 11 in its immunity locus. The thymineless induced lysates of strain 8325(PI258)thy transduce the penicillinase plasmid at high frequency (10(-1), whereas transduction of chromosomal markers is inefficient. A plasmic-cured derivative of strain 8325(PI258)thy is also lysed by thymine starvation and be used for high-frequency transduction of other plasmids. Reconstitution of a strain of S. aureus that responds to thymine starvation was only partially successful, but this system can effectively be used to transduce plasmids or plasmid derivatives.     

Transfer of erythromycin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus.

In the course of an outbreak of enteritis and conjunctivitis, Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from newborn infants. Strains cultured at a later phase of the outbreak differed from those found at the beginning in being resistant to several antibiotics, showing resistance to typing phages and releasing phages of the same lysis spectrum (10(9) p.f.u./ml after heating at 56 degrees C for 2 min). Transduction experiments with a strain and its cell-free lysate showed that inducible erythromycin resistance was transferable to strains isolated at the beginning of the outbreak and to laboratory strains. Plasmid origin of resistance was confirmed by (i) high transduction frequency; (ii) transduction to RN981 rec- mutants; (iii) kinetics of transduction; (iv) elimination of resistance. Mixed culture experiments yielded transductants at high frequency with resistance to erythromycin, streptomycin and tetracycline.     

Cloning and sequences of inducible and constitutive macrolide resistance genes in Staphylococcus aureus that correspond to an ABC transporter

A restriction map was made and the DNA sequence was determined for a plasmid, pMC38, derived from the inducible macrolide resistance plasmid pEP2104, that showed constitutive resistance to PMS antibiotics (partial macrolide and streptogramin B antibiotics). A 5. 04 kb SalI-PstI fragment (fragment C) of pMC38, which encoded PMS resistance, was cloned into a shuttle vector, pRIT5, to yield pMR504. The transformant Staphylococcus aureus 4220 (pMR504) exhibited constitutive PMS resistance. Fragment C was subcloned to pUC19 in order to determine the DNA sequence. This sequence was consequently found to contain three open reading frames (ORF1-3), of which ORF3 corresponded to the 63 kDa membrane protein (MsrSA) that expressed PMS resistance. According to DNA sequence comparison of the control region of ORF3 in pMC38 and pEP2104, 44 nucleotides including RBS1 and the leader peptide (MTASMRLK) were deleted on plasmid pMC38. This suggests that the leader peptide is essential for the inducible expression of PMS resistance.     

Drug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Induction of macrolide resistance by erythromycin, oleandomycin and their derivatives.

Antibacterial and inducer activities concerning inducible macrolide resistance in Staphylococcus aureus were investigated using 32 erythromycin, oleandomycin and other macrolide antibiotic derivatives and analogues. The macrolides were classified into five groups from very high to none according to their inducer activity.     

The nucleotide sequence of Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pT48 conferring inducible macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance and comparison with similar plasmids expressing constitutive resistance

The complete nucleotide sequence of a naturally occurring Staphylococcus aureus plasmid, pT48 (from S. aureus strain T48), has been determined. The 2475 bp plasmid confers inducible resistance to macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLS) type antibiotics. It is similar to the constitutive MLS resistance plasmid, pNE131, from Staphylococcus epidermidis and shows homology with S. aureus plasmids pSN2 and pE194. It contains a palA structure homologous to that on S. aureus plasmid pT181. The open reading frame, ORF B, within the pSN2 homologous region has a frameshifted C-terminus, relative to pNE131, resulting in a smaller, 158 amino acid putative polypeptide. The pE194 homologous region has the ermC resistance determinant and retains the leader region, deleted in pNE131, required for inducible expression of an adenine methylase. Another naturally occurring S. aureus strain, J74, shows constitutive resistance to erythromycin and contains a small plasmid, pJ74, which is similar to pNE131 but with a different deletion in the leader sequence. The results are consistent with the translational attenuation model for ermC expression.     

Erythromycin-inducible resistance in Staphylococcus aureus: requirements for induction

At least two functionally different types of ribosomes are found in strains of Staphylococcus aureus which display "dissociated" resistance to erythromycin. One type of ribosome is found under conditions of growth in ordinary nutrient broth, and the second is formed during growth in the presence of erythromycin. In these strains, erythromycin acts as an inducer of resistance to three different classes of inhibitors of the 50S ribosomal subunit-the macrolides, lincosamides, and streptogramin B-type antibiotics. The optimal inducing concentration of erythromycin is between 10(-8) and 10(-7)m. Concentrations as low as 10(-9)m can produce a 10-fold increase in resistant cells over the uninduced, background level, whereas concentrations greater than 10(-7)m block induction owing to inhibition of protein synthesis. Resistant cells begin to appear within 5 to 10 min after addition of erythromycin (to 10(-7)m), and within 40 min (i.e., about one generation) more than 90% of the entire culture is resistant to erythromycin as well as to lincomycin and vernamycin B(alpha). A resistant culture becomes sensitive if grown for 90 min in the absence of erythromycin. The process of induction is inhibited by chloramphenicol and streptovaricin, which inhibit protein and ribonucleic acid synthesis, respectively, but not by novobiocin, which inhibits deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis. Resistant cells produced in this manner fail to concentrate (14)C-erythromycin and (14)C-lincomycin, but not (14)C-chloramphenicol. Constitutively erythromycin-resistant strains which do not require the presence of erythromycin for expression of resistance can be selected on media containing antibiotics which belong to any one of the three classes. Two patterns of constitutive resistance have been found. These are (i) generalized constitutive resistance-which involves resistance in the absence of erythromycin to all members of each of the three cited classes of 50S subunit inhibitors which were tested, and (ii) partial constitutive resistance-which involves different degrees of resistance, in the absence of erythromycin, to various members of the three classes. Several different patterns of variable constitutivity are possible. 50S ribosomal subunits isolated from induced or constitutively resistant cells show decreased ability to bind erythromycin and lincomycin, and possible enzymatic inactivation of these antibiotics has been rigorously excluded. The induced change, therefore involves modification of ribosome structure rather than modification of the antibiotic.     

Stress resistance in Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen of increasing importance as a result of the spread of antibiotic resistance. It causes a wide range of diseases and survives outside the host by virtue of its adaptability and resistance to environmental stress. Several cellular components involved in Staphylococcus aureus stress resistance have begun to be characterized.     

Staphylococcal polysaccharide products inhibitory to Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage.

Four products derived from Staphylococcus aureus cultures were partially purified and tested for inhibitory activity against staphylococcal phage. Phage inhibition, a specific stable phenomenon, was concentration dependent. All inhibitory products contained carbohydrate and amino acids, the most active (phage 73 lysate product) having a high carbohydrate content. Galactose, glucosamine, five or six amino acids, and possibly 3-O-methylglucose and a uronic acid were found as components in all active preparations. However, the exact nature of the active material remains undetermined.     

Mechanism of bacteriophage conversion of lipase activity in Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus PS54 harbors two temperate bacteriophages and manifests no lipase activity on egg yolk agar. Curing of one of the resident prophages (L54a) restores lipase activity. To study the mechanism of bacteriophage conversion, the prophage was cured, and the gene encoding lipase activity was cloned into pBR322 in Escherichia coli on a 2.9-kilobase DNA fragment of the chromosome. The fragment was subcloned into a shuttle vector and subsequently transformed into S. aureus and Bacillus subtilis. Lipase activity was expressed in all three genetic backgrounds. Transformation and transductional data indicated that conversion is due to insertional inactivation of the lipase gene. Hybridization analysis with probes made from converting-phage DNA and from the cloned fragment confirmed that the phage insertion site resides within the terminal 0.8 kilobase of the insert.     

Chromosomal penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus strains of phage group II

The markers coding for serotype B penicillinase (PcB) in wild type strains of group II of S. aureus behaved as chromosal characters in 6 out of 7 cases. The PcB markers could be transduced to group II strains, and with the help of restriction deficient mutants also to some strains of group I. No extrachromosomal DNA could be detected in the transductants. The low frequency of transduction of chromosomal markers as well as the high restriction barrier seem to limit the spread of these markers outside group II.     

Antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Recognized since 1883 as a common cause of infection, Staphylococcus aureus' preantimicrobial-era bacteremia mortality rate was 82%. The mortality of that era threatens to return as evidence of growing vancomycin resistance undermines the utility of vancomycin therapy. Successful treatment of S. aureus infections requires knowledge of its antimicrobial resistance capacity.