Abstract
The tetracycline resistance gene tet(K) was shown to be integrated within the predominant staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element of Danish livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 (LA-MRSA CC398). These LA-MRSA CC398 isolates already possessed tet(M), but the acquisition of tet(K) significantly improved their fitness at sublethal concentrations of tetracycline. Because tet(K) is genetically linked to SCCmec, the use of tetracycline in food animals may have contributed to the successful spread of LA-MRSA CC398.
Highlights
The tetracycline resistance gene tet(K) was shown to be integrated within the predominant staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element of Danish livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 (LA-MRSA CC398)
It remains unclear whether acquisition of tet(K) plays a role in the coselection of methicillin resistance, given that virtually all LA-MRSA CC398 isolates are already resistant to tetracycline due to the presence of another tetracycline resistance gene, tet(M), encoding a so-called ribosomal protection protein, which reduces the affinity of ribosomes for tetracycline when GTP is present [4, 9,10,11]
The Danish LA-MRSA CC398 collection used in this study included 146 human isolates collected by Statens Serum Institut between 2004 and 2009; the isolates had been characterized previously for spa type, presence of tet(M), and antimicrobial susceptibilities in a different study by Larsen and colleagues, who investigated the epidemiology of LA-MRSA CC398 in humans in Denmark from 1999 to 2011 [3]
Summary
The tetracycline resistance gene tet(K) was shown to be integrated within the predominant staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element of Danish livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 (LA-MRSA CC398). In some LA-MRSA CC398 isolates, the tetracycline resistance plasmid pT181 is found integrated between the ccr region and the J1 region within the type Vc staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element [7].
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