Logo image
Back
A genomic portrait of the emergence, evolution, and global spread of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pandemic
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

A genomic portrait of the emergence, evolution, and global spread of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pandemic

M.T.G. Holden, L-Y Hsu, K. Kurt, L.A. Weinert, A.E. Mather, S.R. Harris, B. Strommenger, F. Layer, W. Witte, H. de Lencastre, …
Genome Research, Vol.23(4), pp.653-664
2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.147710.112
pdf
genomic_portrait_of_methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus.pdfDownloadView
Published (Version of Record)CC BY-NC V4.0,  Open Access
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

The widespread use of antibiotics in association with high-density clinical care has driven the emergence of drugresistant bacteria that are adapted to thrive in hospitalized patients. Of particular concern are globally disseminated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones that cause outbreaks and epidemics associated with health care. The most rapidly spreading and tenacious health-care-associated clone in Europe currently is EMRSA-15, which was first detected in the UK in the early 1990s and subsequently spread throughout Europe and beyond. Using phylogenomic methods to analyze the genome sequences for 193 S. aureus isolates, we were able to show that the current pandemic population of EMRSA-15 descends from a health-care-associatedMRSA epidemic that spread throughout England in the 1980s, which had itself previously emerged froma primarily community-associated methicillin-sensitive population. The emergence of fluoroquinolone resistance in this EMRSA-15 subclone in the English Midlands during the mid-1980s appears to have played a key role in triggering pandemic spread, and occurred shortly after the first clinical trials of this drug. Genome-based coalescence analysis estimated that the population of this subclone over the last 20 yr has grown four times faster than its progenitor. Using comparative genomic analysis we identified the molecular genetic basis of 99.8% of the antimicrobial resistance phenotypes of the isolates, highlighting the potential of pathogen genome sequencing as a diagnostic tool.We document the genetic changes associated with adaptation to the hospital environment and with increasing drug resistance over time, and how MRSA evolution likely has been influenced by country-specific drug use regimens.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

Source: InCites

Metrics

108 File views/ downloads
63 Record Views
356 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.23 Antibiotics & Antimicrobials
1.23.173 MRSA and VRE
Web Of Science research areas
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Genetics & Heredity
ESI research areas
Molecular Biology & Genetics
Logo image