Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2001) 47, 277-283
© 2001 The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Fitness and competitive growth advantage of new gentamicin-susceptible MRSA clones spreading in French hospitals
a Laboratoire de Bactériologie, UMR 5558, Faculté de Médecine Lyon-Sud, BP 12, 69921 Oullins; b Laboratoire de Bactériologie, EA 1655, Faculté Médecine Laennec, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
Since 1991, new epidemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains characterized by the unexpected reappearance of heterogeneous phenotypic expression of resistance to methicillin and by susceptibility to gentamicin and various other antibiotics (GS-MRSA) have been reported in France. GS-MRSA strains have progressively replaced MRSA clones expressing homogeneous resistance to methicillin and resistance to gentamicin (GR-MRSA). In this study, we investigated the physiological characteristics of these new clones. In particular, we evaluated and compared the maximal growth rate and the deduced generation times (related to fitness of strains) of the major French epidemic MRSA clones. The population studied consisted of 79 isolates including (i) GR-MRSA that comprised six different types on the basis of PFGE; (ii) GS-MRSA the majority of which clustered into two PFGE types, A1 (usually resistant to erythromycin) and B (usually susceptible to erythromycin); (iii) methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). GS-MRSA-A1 and MSSA strains were shown to have a significant fitness benefit (about 20%) with shorter generation times (
= 23.7 ± 0.1 and 22.9 ± 0.05 min, respectively) than GR-MRSA and GS-MRSA-B strains ( = 30.3 ± 0.2 and 32.5 ± 0.5 min, respectively). These data suggest that a link exists between genetic patterns, resistance profiles and physiological properties. In vitro competitive experiments indicated that GS-MRSA- A1 strains were able to rapidly outgrow GR-MRSA strains. The growth advantage observed should be taken into account in understanding the spread of some new clones of MRSA.
* Corresponding author. Tel: +33-4-78-86-31-67; Fax: +33-4-78-86-31-49; E-mail: laurent{at}lyon-sud.univ-lyon1.fr
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. M. Lee, M. Ender, R. Adhikari, J. M. B. Smith, B. Berger-Bachi, and G. M. Cook Fitness Cost of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Way of Continuous Culture Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., April 1, 2007; 51(4): 1497 - 1499. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Vindel, P. Trincado, E. Gomez, R. Cabrera, T. Boquete, C. Sola, S. Valdezate, and J. A. Saez-Nieto Prevalence and Evolution of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Spanish Hospitals between 1996 and 2002 J. Clin. Microbiol., January 1, 2006; 44(1): 266 - 270. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. A. Shelburne, D. M. Musher, K. Hulten, H. Ceasar, M. Y. Lu, I. Bhaila, and R. J. Hamill In Vitro Killing of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus with Drug Combinations Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., October 1, 2004; 48(10): 4016 - 4019. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Oteo, F. Baquero, A. Vindel, J. Campos, and on behalf of the Spanish members of The European A Antibiotic resistance in 3113 blood isolates of Staphylococcus aureus in 40 Spanish hospitals participating in the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (2000-2002) J. Antimicrob. Chemother., June 1, 2004; 53(6): 1033 - 1038. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
F. Bert, J. Clarissou, F. Durand, D. Delefosse, C. Chauvet, P. Lefebvre, N. Lambert, and C. Branger Prevalence, Molecular Epidemiology, and Clinical Significance of Heterogeneous Glycopeptide-Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus in Liver Transplant Recipients J. Clin. Microbiol., November 1, 2003; 41(11): 5147 - 5152. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Thouverez, A. Muller, D. Hocquet, D. Talon, and X. Bertrand Relationship between molecular epidemiology and antibiotic susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a French teaching hospital J. Med. Microbiol., September 1, 2003; 52(9): 801 - 806. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Sanchez, J. F. Linares, B. Ruiz-Diez, E. Campanario, A. Navas, F. Baquero, and J. L. Martinez Fitness of in vitro selected Pseudomonas aeruginosanalB and nfxB multidrug resistant mutants J. Antimicrob. Chemother., November 1, 2002; 50(5): 657 - 664. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P.-Y. Donnio, L. Louvet, L. Preney, D. Nicolas, J.-L. Avril, and L. Desbordes Nine-Year Surveillance of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Hospital Suggests Instability of mecA DNA Region in an Epidemic Strain J. Clin. Microbiol., March 1, 2002; 40(3): 1048 - 1052. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Verhoef Stopping short the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Can. Med. Assoc. J., July 1, 2001; 165(1): 31 - 32. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. S. Blanc, P. Francioli, A. Le Coustumier, L. Gazagne, E. Lecaillon, P. Gueudet, F. Vandenesch, and J. Etienne Reemergence of Gentamicin-Susceptible Strains of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in France: a Phylogenetic Approach J. Clin. Microbiol., June 1, 2001; 39(6): 2287 - 2290. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|