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closeRomanian ST239 variants
Posted by MediavillaJR on 28 May 2014 at 12:10 GMT
The authors describe the ST239 variants detected in this study as follows:
"...The third most common strain was ST239-like MRSA-III (“Vienna/Hungarian/Brazilian Clone”, 22 isolates)....These isolates harboured, beside SCCmec III markers such as ccrA/B3, also ccrC but lacked a mercury resistance element that is common in ST239-like MRSA-III..."
As noted in reference #14 (Chen et al), our study of isolates from the Transylvanian city of Brasov uncovered 2 dominant ST239 variants with several unique features, including the shared presence of a novel transposon (Tn6072) located upstream of the origin of replication. This transposon shared significant homology to the mercury resistance element described by the authors, including the possession of ccrC, but not mer (Moreover, there were 2 distinct ST239 variants, including one with a significant/novel SCCmec deletion which included the ccrA3/B3 genes (see Figure 1, http://aac.asm.org/conten...).
Given the high prevalence of these ST239 variants in Brasov, and the near-absence of classical ST239, it seems likely they are also present among the ST239 isolates from Iasi. Haplotype analysis revealed the presence of Tn6072 in an sublineage of ST239 isolates from Eastern Europe and Turkey (see Figure 3, http://aac.asm.org/conten...). The prototype of this lineage appears to be the "Czech" clone (H2K) described originally by deLencastre and colleagues (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...).
It would be of interest to the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus in Romania if the authors' microarray data could determine whether the ST239 isolates from Iasi also belong to the aforementioned lineage, and whether their SCCmec elements resemble either of those described in reference #14.
RE: Romanian ST239 variants
stefan_monecke replied to MediavillaJR on 11 Jun 2014 at 09:40 GMT
Thank you very much for your comment. We fully agree with your conclusion on the continuing evolution of SCC elements, especially in ST239, seeing different hybridisation patterns indicating variation of SCCmec III-like elements.
It is tempting to assume that the ST239-III variant observed in Iasi is related or identical to strains found in Brasov.
We could exchange a couple of isolates so that you could perform PCR for detection of Tn6072 on some Iasi isolates, and that we could hybridise a few Brasov isolates. For further characterisation, we also could use an array for subtyping of mecA alleles (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g...) on them, and apply in near future a couple of additional, new SCCmec-related probes.
RE: RE: Romanian ST239 variants
MediavillaJR replied to stefan_monecke on 28 May 2015 at 11:56 GMT
Dr. Monecke, please excuse me, I just now stumbled on this article again and read your response. We would be very happy to exchange isolates as you suggest, if you are still interested. Please feel free to contact me directly at mediavjr@njms.rutgers.edu