Genomic Basis for Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

• Published in: Infection & chemotherapy Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 117 - 136
• Main Authors: Hiramatsu, Keiichi, Ito, Teruyo, Tsubakishita, Sae, Sasaki, Takashi, Takeuchi, Fumihiko, Morimoto, Yuh, Katayama, Yuki, Matsuo, Miki, Kuwahara-Arai, Kyoko, Hishinuma, Tomomi, Baba, Tadashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases and Korean Society for Chemotherapy 01.06.2013; 대한감염학회
• Subjects: Review; Staphylococcus aureus; 내과학; Hetero-resistance; mecB; rpoB; mecA; oriC environ; SCCmec; mecC
• ISSN: 2093-2340; 2092-6448
• DOI: 10.3947/ic.2013.45.2.117

Since the discovery of the first strain in 1961 in England, MRSA, the most notorious multidrug-resistant hospital pathogen, has spread all over the world. MRSA repeatedly turned down the challenges by number of chemotherapeutics, the fruits of modern organic chemistry. Now, we are in short of effective therapeutic agents against MRSA prevailing among immuno-compromised patients in the hospital. On top of this, we recently became aware of the rise of diverse clones of MRSA, some of which have increased pathogenic potential compared to the classical hospital-associated MRSA, and the others from veterinary sources. They increased rapidly in the community, and started menacing otherwise healthy individuals by causing unexpected acute infection. This review is intended to provide a whole picture of MRSA based on its genetic makeup as a versatile pathogen and our tenacious colonizer.