TY - JOUR

T1 - Fluoroquinolone resistance does not facilitate phage Φ13 integration or excision in Staphylococcus aureus

AU - Leinweber, Helena

AU - Sieber, Raphael N

AU - Bojer, Martin S

AU - Larsen, Jesper

AU - Ingmer, Hanne

N1 - © 2023 The Authors.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Prophages of the ΦSa3int family are commonly found in human-associated strains of Staphylococcus aureus where they encode factors for evading the human innate immune system. In contrast, they are usually absent in livestock-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (LA-MRSA) strains where the phage attachment site is mutated compared to the human strains. However, ΦSa3int phages have been found in a subset of LA-MRSA strains belonging to clonal complex 398 (CC398), including a lineage that is widespread in pig farms in Northern Jutland, Denmark. This lineage contains amino acid changes in the DNA topoisomerase IV and the DNA gyrase encoded by grlA and gyrA, respectively, which have been associated with fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance. As both of these enzymes are involved in DNA supercoiling, we speculated that the mutations might impact recombination between the ΦSa3int phage and the bacterial chromosome. To examine this, we introduced the FQ resistance mutations into S. aureus 8325-4attBLA that carry the mutated CC398-like bacterial attachment site for ΦSa3int phages. When monitoring phage integration and release of Φ13, a well-described representative of the ΦSa3int phage family, we did not observe any significant differences between the FQ-resistant mutant and the wild-type strain. Thus our results suggest that mutations in grlA and gyrA do not contribute to the presence of the ΦSa3int phages in LA-MRSA CC398.

AB - Prophages of the ΦSa3int family are commonly found in human-associated strains of Staphylococcus aureus where they encode factors for evading the human innate immune system. In contrast, they are usually absent in livestock-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (LA-MRSA) strains where the phage attachment site is mutated compared to the human strains. However, ΦSa3int phages have been found in a subset of LA-MRSA strains belonging to clonal complex 398 (CC398), including a lineage that is widespread in pig farms in Northern Jutland, Denmark. This lineage contains amino acid changes in the DNA topoisomerase IV and the DNA gyrase encoded by grlA and gyrA, respectively, which have been associated with fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance. As both of these enzymes are involved in DNA supercoiling, we speculated that the mutations might impact recombination between the ΦSa3int phage and the bacterial chromosome. To examine this, we introduced the FQ resistance mutations into S. aureus 8325-4attBLA that carry the mutated CC398-like bacterial attachment site for ΦSa3int phages. When monitoring phage integration and release of Φ13, a well-described representative of the ΦSa3int phage family, we did not observe any significant differences between the FQ-resistant mutant and the wild-type strain. Thus our results suggest that mutations in grlA and gyrA do not contribute to the presence of the ΦSa3int phages in LA-MRSA CC398.

U2 - 10.1099/acmi.0.000583.v4

DO - 10.1099/acmi.0.000583.v4

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37424547

VL - 5

JO - Access microbiology

JF - Access microbiology

SN - 2516-8290

IS - 6

M1 - 000583.v4

ER -