Open AccessExploring the evolution and epidemiology of European CC1-MRSA-IV: tracking a multidrug-resistant community-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone
Author(s) -
Earls,
EJ Steinig,
Stefan Monecke,
Jas Castruita,
Alexandra Simbeck,
Wulf Schneider-Brachert,
Teodora Vremeră,
Olivia Dorneanu,
Igor Loncaric,
Michèle Bes,
Alícia Lacoma,
CP Aymerich,
Ulrich Wernery,
Marc Armengol-Porta,
Anita Blomfeldt,
Sebastián Duchêne,
Mette Damkjær Bartels,
Ralf Ehricht,
David C. Coleman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
microbial genomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.476
H-Index - 28
ISSN - 2057-5858
DOI - 10.1099/mgen.0.000601
Subject(s) - sccmec , multilocus sequence typing , staphylococcus aureus , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus , multiple drug resistance , molecular epidemiology , clone (java method) , staphylococcal infections , virulence , drug resistance , genetics , gene , genotype , bacteria
This study investigated the evolution and epidemiology of the community-associated and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone European CC1-MRSA-IV. Whole-genome sequences were obtained for 194 European CC1-MRSA-IV isolates (189 of human and 5 of animal origin) from 12 countries, and 10 meticillin-susceptible precursors (from North-Eastern Romania; all of human origin) of the clone. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using a maximum-likelihood approach, a time-measured phylogeny was reconstructed using Bayesian analysis, and in silico microarray genotyping was performed to identify resistance, virulence-associated and SCC mec (staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec ) genes. Isolates were typically sequence type 1 (190/204) and spa type t127 (183/204). Bayesian analysis indicated that European CC1-MRSA-IV emerged in approximately 1995 before undergoing rapid expansion in the late 1990s and 2000s, while spreading throughout Europe and into the Middle East. Phylogenetic analysis revealed an unstructured meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) population, lacking significant geographical or temporal clusters. The MRSA were genotypically multidrug-resistant, consistently encoded seh , and intermittently (34/194) encoded an undisrupted hlb gene with concomitant absence of the lysogenic phage-encoded genes sak and scn . All MRSA also harboured a characteristic ~5350 nt insertion in SCC mec adjacent to orfX . Detailed demographic data from Denmark showed that there, the clone is typically (25/35) found in the community, and often (10/35) among individuals with links to South-Eastern Europe. This study elucidated the evolution and epidemiology of European CC1-MRSA-IV, which emerged from a meticillin-susceptible lineage prevalent in North-Eastern Romania before disseminating rapidly throughout Europe.