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Genetic characterization of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Greece

  • Clinical Microbiology – Short Communication
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Abstract

The interest in livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) strains is increasing due to their wide distribution and transmission even in persons without previous contact with livestock, and these strains pose a public health threat. The aim of the study was the genetic characterization of the whole genome of two epidemiologically unrelated t034 LA-MRSA strains previously isolated from the nasal cavities of a goat and a farmer in Greece. Both strains were assigned to the ST398-Vc-t034 type and they were carrying a single transposon identical to Tn6133. They harbored genes conferring resistance to several antibiotics (aminoglycosides, β-lactams, macrolides, streptogramin B, tetracycline, and trimethoprim), and genes associated with virulence (enterotoxins, γ-hemolysins, and aureolysin). The present study can serve as baseline for further LA-MRSA epidemiological and evolutionary studies in Greece, while awareness and increased surveillance are needed to avoid their spread.

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Fig. 1

Availability of data and material

The whole genome sequences of G-MRSA and H-MRSA were submitted to European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) under the study PRJEB39748 and received the accession numbers ERS4944046 and ERS4944047, respectively.

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Funding

The current work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 grant VEO (grant number 874735).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Theodoros Karampatakis, Katerina Tsergouli, Angeliki Melidou & Anna Papa

  2. Laboratory of Food Hygiene-Veterinary Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Panagiotis Papadopoulos & Daniel Sergelidis

  3. Laboratory of Safety and Quality of Milk and Dairy Products, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Apostolos S. Angelidis

Authors
  1. Theodoros Karampatakis
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  2. Panagiotis Papadopoulos
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  3. Katerina Tsergouli
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  4. Apostolos S. Angelidis
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  5. Angeliki Melidou
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  6. Daniel Sergelidis
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  7. Anna Papa
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Contributions

All the authors have contributed to the design and implementation of the research, to the analysis of the results, and to the writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Theodoros Karampatakis.

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Ethical approval was not required as both isolates were obtained from previously published studies.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Ilana Camargo

Communicated by Ilana Camargo.

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Karampatakis, T., Papadopoulos, P., Tsergouli, K. et al. Genetic characterization of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Greece. Braz J Microbiol 52, 2091–2096 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-021-00587-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-021-00587-z

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