Partnership to investigate the emergence of MRSA clones in cattle and their transmission to man.

这项研究的结果来自于最近在英国奶牛身上发现的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)，该奶牛拥有导致抗生素耐药性的差异基因，并在一家医院的MRSA分离株中检测到相同的差异基因。该项目旨在回答有关具有差异基因的MRSA在人和奶牛中的流行率的问题，并了解与奶牛场密切相关的人是否更有可能携带新的MRSA。这项研究将通过惠康信托桑格研究所、剑桥大学和莫雷登研究所之间的合作，利用最新的基因组测序技术。这项研究本身将包括对从6家地区性医院获得的MRSA分离株的调查，对600个奶牛群的调查，以及对感染新型MRSA的牛群和未受影响的牛群进行比较的病例对照研究。病例对照研究还将提供一个机会，以寻找引起奶牛乳房炎的其他葡萄球菌种类(凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌)，并已知具有高水平的甲氧西林耐药，以寻找甲氧西林耐药基因起源的证据。基因组测序将用于搜索细菌基因组，寻找导致抗生素耐药性的遗传机制，并详细研究家谱，以提供MRSA传播和微观进化的证据。

This research results from the recent discovery of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in dairy cattle in the UK that possess a divergent gene responsible for antibiotic resistance combined with the detection of the same divergent gene in a hospital MRSA isolate. This project is designed to answer questions about the prevalence of MRSA possessing the divergent gene in people, and in dairy cattle, and also to see if people closely associated with dairy farms are more likely to harbour the new MRSA. The research will take advantage of the latest genome sequencing technology through a partnership between the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge and the Moredun Institute. The research itself will involve a survey of MRSA isolates obtained from 6 regional hospitals, a survey of 600 dairy herds and a case-control-study comparing herds infected with the novel MRSA and unaffected herds. The case-control study will also provide an opportunity to look at other staphylococcal species (coagulase negative staphylococci) that cause mastitis in dairy cows, and are known to have high levels of methicillin resistance, for evidence of the origins of the methicillin resistance gene. Genome sequencing will be used both to search the bacterial genomes for genetic mechanisms that are responsible for conferring antibiotic resistance and to look at family trees in fine detail to provide evidence of transmission and micro-evolution of MRSA.