SCCmec

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SCCmec, or staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec, is a mobile genetic element of Staphylococcus bacterial species. This genetic sequence includes the mecA gene coding for resistance to the antibiotic methicillin and is the only known way for Staphylococcus strains to spread the gene in the wild by horizontal gene transfer. [1] SCCmec is a 21 to 60 kb long genetic element that confers broad-spectrum β-lactam resistance to MRSA. [2] Moreover, additional genetic elements like Tn554, pT181, and pUB110 can be found in SCCmec, which have the capability to render resistance to various non-β-lactam drugs. [3]

Contents

Classification

Not all SCCmec elements are identical (in fact, SCC elements without the mecA gene do exist. [4] ) As of December 2021, SCCmec elements have been classified into fourteen types (I through XIV). [5] One region is the mec complex including the mecA gene. The other is the ccr gene complex including genes coding for recombinases. [6]

The mec complex is divided further into five types (I through V) based on the arrangement of regulatory genetic features such as mecR1, an inducer. [7] The mec gene complex in SCCmec, comprising mec gene, its regulators (mecR1, mecI), and insertion sequences (IS), is categorized into five classes (A to E). Class A includes mecA, full mecR1, mecI, and IS431. Class B has IS1272, mecA, partial mecR1, and IS431. Class C, with two versions (C1, C2), contains mecA, partial mecR1, IS431, differing in IS431 orientation. Class D includes IS431, mecA, partial mecR1; Class E consists of blaZ, mecC, mecR1, mecI. [7] [8] [9]

The ccr and mec gene complexes in SCCmec are connected by joining (J) regions, considered non-essential but capable of carrying extra antimicrobial resistance determinants. [10] [11] These are categorized as J1, J2, and J3, based on their SCCmec positions. J1, also known as the L-C region, lies between the right chromosomal junction and upstream of the ccr gene. J2, previously the C-M region, is situated between the ccr and mec gene complexes. J3 (formerly the I-R region) is found downstream of the mec gene complex, extending to the left chromosomal junction. [12]

Distribution

The SCCmec found in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus likely originated in coagulase-negative staphylococcal species and was acquired by S. aureus. [13]

Staphylococcal strains isolated from pig farms were found to carry several different types of SCCmec, suggesting that they may serve as a reservoir of these elements. [14]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Hanssen AM, Ericson Sollid JU (February 2006). "SCCmec in staphylococci: genes on the move". FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 46 (1): 8–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-695X.2005.00009.x . PMID   16420592. S2CID   37999833.
  2. ↑ Katayama Y, Ito T, Hiramatsu K (June 2000). "A new class of genetic element, staphylococcus cassette chromosome mec, encodes methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 44 (6): 1549–1555. doi:10.1128/AAC.44.6.1549-1555.2000. PMC   89911 . PMID   10817707.
  3. ↑ Ito T, Hiramatsu K (December 1998). "Acquisition of methicillin resistance and progression of multiantibiotic resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus". Yonsei Medical Journal. 39 (6): 526–533. doi: 10.3349/ymj.1998.39.6.526 . PMID   10097679.
  4. ↑ Hanssen AM, Ericson Sollid JU (February 2006). "SCCmec in staphylococci: genes on the move". FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 46 (1): 8–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-695X.2005.00009.x . PMID   16420592.
  5. ↑ Uehara Y (January 2022). "Current Status of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec)". Antibiotics. 11 (1): 86. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11010086 . PMC   8772726 . PMID   35052963.
  6. ↑ Hiramatsu K, Cui L, Kuroda M, Ito T (October 2001). "The emergence and evolution of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus". Trends in Microbiology. 9 (10): 486–493. doi:10.1016/s0966-842x(01)02175-8. PMID   11597450.
  7. 1 2 Katayama Y, Ito T, Hiramatsu K (July 2001). "Genetic organization of the chromosome region surrounding mecA in clinical staphylococcal strains: role of IS431-mediated mecI deletion in expression of resistance in mecA-carrying, low-level methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus haemolyticus". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 45 (7): 1955–1963. doi:10.1128/AAC.45.7.1955-1963.2001. PMC   90585 . PMID   11408208.
  8. ↑ Shore AC, Deasy EC, Slickers P, Brennan G, O'Connell B, Monecke S, et al. (August 2011). "Detection of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type XI carrying highly divergent mecA, mecI, mecR1, blaZ, and ccr genes in human clinical isolates of clonal complex 130 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 55 (8): 3765–3773. doi:10.1128/AAC.00187-11. PMC   3147645 . PMID   21636525.
  9. ↑ "Classification of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec): guidelines for reporting novel SCCmec elements". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 53 (12): 4961–4967. December 2009. doi:10.1128/aac.00579-09. PMC   2786320 . PMID   19721075.
  10. ↑ "Classification of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec): guidelines for reporting novel SCCmec elements". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 53 (12): 4961–4967. December 2009. doi:10.1128/AAC.00579-09. PMC   2786320 . PMID   19721075.
  11. ↑ Liu J, Chen D, Peters BM, Li L, Li B, Xu Z, Shirliff ME (December 2016). "Staphylococcal chromosomal cassettes mec (SCCmec): A mobile genetic element in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus". Microbial Pathogenesis. 101: 56–67. doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2016.10.028. PMID   27836760.
  12. ↑ Lakhundi S, Zhang K (October 2018). "Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Molecular Characterization, Evolution, and Epidemiology". Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 31 (4). doi:10.1128/CMR.00020-18. PMC   6148192 . PMID   30209034.
  13. ↑ Tsubakishita S, Kuwahara-Arai K, Sasaki T, Hiramatsu K (October 2010). "Origin and molecular evolution of the determinant of methicillin resistance in staphylococci". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 54 (10): 4352–4359. doi:10.1128/AAC.00356-10. PMC   2944575 . PMID   20679504.
  14. ↑ Tulinski P, Fluit AC, Wagenaar JA, Mevius D, van de Vijver L, Duim B (January 2012). "Methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci on pig farms as a reservoir of heterogeneous staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec elements". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 78 (2): 299–304. Bibcode:2012ApEnM..78..299T. doi:10.1128/AEM.05594-11. PMC   3255757 . PMID   22081567.


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