Generalized transduction in gram positive organisms research papers
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Bacteriophage (phage)-mediated generalized transduction is expected to contribute to the emergence of drug-resistant staphylococcal clones in various environments. In this study, novel phage S6 was isolated from sewage and used to test generalized transduction in human- and animal-derived staphylococci. Phage S6 was a novel type of giant myophage, which possessed a DNA genome that contained uracil instead of thymine, and it could infect all of the tested staphylococcal species. The phage S6 appeared to be similar to the transducing phage PBS1, which infects Bacillus spp. Moreover, phage S6 facilitated the transduction of a plasmid in Staphylococcus aureus and from S. aureus to non-aureus staphylococcal species, as well as vice versa. Transduction of methicillin resistance also occurred in S. aureus. This is the first report of successful intragenus generalized transduction among staphylococci.
Keywords: staphylococci, drug-resistance, generalized transduction, bacteriophage, RNA world, sewage.
Antibiotic-resistance genes can be exchanged via horizontal gene transfer among bacteria found in humans and animals (Finley et al., 2013). Generalized transduction, where the transfer of DNA is mediated by a bacteriophage (phage), is an important mechanism that facilitates the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic-resistant genes. Antibiotic-resistant genes and phages originate from various environments (Weinbauer, 2004; Finley et al., 2013). In particular, sewage is the most concentrated source of both, and phage-mediated gene transfer is likely to occur among staphylococci in sewage (Colomer-Lluch et al., 2011; Finley et al., 2013).
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