Phage-mediated horizontal transfer of a Staphylococcus aureus virulence-associated genomic island.
Phage-mediated horizontal transfer of a Staphylococcus aureus virulence-associated genomic island.
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DOI：
10.1038/srep09784
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发表时间：
2015-04-20
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Seo KS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Moon BY;Park JY;Hwang SY;Robinson DA;Thomas JC;Fitzgerald JR;Park YH;Seo KS
金黄色葡萄球菌是人类和动物的主要病原体。金黄色葡萄球菌对不同寄主物种和组织类型的适应能力受到编码生态位适应决定因素的移动遗传元件的获取的强烈影响。基因组岛νSaα和νSaβ几乎存在于所有金黄色葡萄球菌菌株中，其特点是毒力基因含量存在着广泛的差异。然而，这种多样性的基础和菌株间基因组岛动员的潜在机制尚不清楚。在这里，我们证明了编码一系列毒力因子的基因组岛νSaβ除了细菌素外，还包括葡萄球菌超抗原、蛋白酶和白毒素，在体外可以通过驻留的原噬菌体转移到多个金黄色葡萄球菌克隆的人和动物菌株上。νSaβ的转移似乎是通过转导携带νSaβ重叠片段的噬菌体颗粒的多次转化完成的。我们的发现解开了关于基因组岛νSaβ多样化和传播的长期谜团，突出了噬菌体在金黄色葡萄球菌致病进化中的核心作用。
Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen of humans and animals. The capacity of S. aureus to adapt to different host species and tissue types is strongly influenced by the acquisition of mobile genetic elements encoding determinants involved in niche adaptation. The genomic islands νSaα and νSaβ are found in almost all S. aureus strains and are characterized by extensive variation in virulence gene content. However the basis for the diversity and the mechanism underlying mobilization of the genomic islands between strains are unexplained. Here, we demonstrated that the genomic island, νSaβ, encoding an array of virulence factors including staphylococcal superantigens, proteases, and leukotoxins, in addition to bacteriocins, was transferrable in vitro to human and animal strains of multiple S. aureus clones via a resident prophage. The transfer of the νSaβ appears to have been accomplished by multiple conversions of transducing phage particles carrying overlapping segments of the νSaβ. Our findings solve a long-standing mystery regarding the diversification and spread of the genomic island νSaβ, highlighting the central role of bacteriophages in the pathogenic evolution of S. aureus.