PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

Skin Commensal Staphylococci May Act as Reservoir for Fusidic Acid Resistance Genes.

  • Wei-Chun Hung,
  • Hsiao-Jan Chen,
  • Yu-Tzu Lin,
  • Jui-Chang Tsai,
  • Chiao-Wei Chen,
  • Hsiao-Hung Lu,
  • Sung-Pin Tseng,
  • Yao-Yu Jheng,
  • Kin Hong Leong,
  • Lee-Jene Teng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143106
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 11
p. e0143106

Abstract

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We analyzed the occurrence and mechanisms of fusidic acid resistance present in staphylococci isolated from 59 healthy volunteers. The fingers of the volunteers were screened for the presence of staphylococci, and the collected isolates were tested for resistance to fusidic acid. A total of 34 fusidic acid resistant staphylococcal strains (all were coagulase-negative) were isolated from 22 individuals (22/59, 37.3%). Examination of the resistance genes revealed that acquired fusB or fusC was present in Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus capitis subsp. urealyticus, Staphylococcus hominis subsp. hominis, Staphylococcus warneri and Staphylococcus haemolyticus. Resistance islands (RIs) carrying fusB were found in S. epidermidis and S. capitis subsp. urealyticus, while staphylococcal chromosome cassette (SCC)-related structures harboring fusC were found in S. hominis subsp. hominis. Genotypic analysis of S. epidermidis and S. hominis subsp. hominis indicated that the fus elements were disseminated in diverse genetic strain backgrounds. The fusC elements in S. hominis subsp. hominis strains were highly homologous to SCCfusC in the epidemic sequence type (ST) 239/SCCmecIII methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) or the pseudo SCCmec in ST779 MRSA. The presence of acquired fusidic acid resistance genes and their genetic environment in commensal staphylococci suggested that the skin commensal staphylococci may act as reservoir for fusidic acid resistance genes.