Staphylococcus spp. Causatives of Infections and Carrier of blaZ, femA, and mecA Genes Associated with Resistance

Abstract

Staphylococcus spp. have been associated with cases of healthcare associated infections due to their high incidence in isolates from the hospital environment and their ability to cause infections in immunocompromised patients; synthesize biofilms on medical instruments, in the case of negative coagulase species; and change in genetic material, thus making it possible to disseminate genes that code for the acquisition of resistance mechanisms against the action of antibiotics. This study evaluated the presence of blaZ, femA, and mecA chromosomal and plasmid genes of Staphylococcus spp. using the qPCR technique. The results were associated with the phenotypic expression of resistance to oxacillin and penicillin G. We found that the chromosomal femA gene was present in a greater proportion in S. intermedius when compared with the other species analyzed, while the plasmid-borne mecA gene was prevalent in the S. aureus samples. The binary logistic regression performed to verify the association among the expression of the genes analyzed and the acquisition of resistance to oxacillin and penicillin G were not significant in any of the analyses, p > 0.05.

Design and Validation of Primer Sets for the Detection and Quantification of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Environmental Samples by Quantitative PCR

“…The prevalence of fosA in the environment supposes the proliferation of its main reservoirs, which are the well-recognized human pathogens Klebsiella spp., Enterobacter spp., and Serratia marcescens [ 48 ]. Besides, the absence of mecA gene in the different environmental samples is in agreement with the previous report of Shoaib et al [ 49 ], However, a starting high prevalence of methicillin-resistant bacteria in environmental samples, mainly WWTPs, has been addressed in recent years [ 50 ]. Therefore, monitoring of both ARGs needs to be conducted and included in the framework for surveillance in natural environments to fill the gaps in the knowledge of the prevalence in environmental samples of fosA and mecA encoding resistance to therapeutic compounds essential to fight bacterial infections.…”

Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Virulence Factors, and Biofilm Formation in Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcus spp. Isolates from European Hakes (Merluccius merluccius, L.) Caught in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean

“…Staphylococcus spp. are frequently resistant to penicillin, followed by fusidic acid [89,90]. This is consistent with our results, in which the most frequent resistances were to penicillin (88.8%) and fusidic acid (40.7%).…”

Design and validation of primer sets for the detection and quantification of antibiotic resistance genes in environmental samples by quantitative PCR

“…The absence of mecA gene in the different environmental samples is in agreement with the previous report of Shoaib et al [77], which described a prevalence of this gene mainly in healthcare environments. However, a starting high prevalence of methicillin-resistant bacteria in environmental samples, mainly WWTPs, has been addressed in recent years [78,79]. The mecA gene codes for a penicillin-binding protein (PBP2a), making microorganisms resistant to all beta-lactam compounds [80].…”