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Resistance phenotype and genetic features of a heterogeneous vancomycin intermediate–resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain from an immunocompromised patient

  • Clinical Microbiology - Research Paper
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Abstract

Strain C1 was successfully isolated from an immunosuppressed patient with persistent bacteremia, who had not previously been exposed to glycopeptide antibiotics. This strain was found to be a heterogeneous vancomycin intermediate–resistant Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA). It is noteworthy that, following a brief period of vancomycin treatment, strains C6, C8, and C9, which were obtained from blood and other body parts, exhibited a significant reduction in heterogeneity as determined by population analysis profile–area under the curve (PAP-AUC) detection. Genotyping analysis revealed that these bacterial strains belonged to the same SCCmecIVa-ST59-t437-agrI genotype and shared the same virulome and resistome. In this study, a comparative genomics analysis was conducted between strain C1 and strain N315 to identify potential hVISA-associated mutations. Ultimately, a total of 205 mutation sites in 19 candidate genes, likely associated with the hVISA phenotype, were identified.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Yuanyuan Dai from the Provincial Hospital of Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China, for providing the control strains Mu3 and Mu50.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2301004) and the National Key Inspection Specialty Construction Projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Laboratory Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Xin Cheng, Jingxin Ma, Liyan Ma, Wei Sun & Jianrong Su

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, 518000, China

    Yaru Wang

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  1. Xin Cheng
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  4. Liyan Ma
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Contributions

Conceptualization: X.C., L.M., and J.S.; methodology: X.C. and Y.W.; software: X.C. and J.M.; validation: X.C. and W.S.; formal analysis: X.C. and Y.W.; investigation: X.C. and L.M.; resources: W.S.; data curation: X.C.; writing–original draft preparation: X.C.; writing, review, and editing: L.M. and J.S.; visualization: X.C.; supervision: J.S.; project administration: L.M. and J.S.; funding acquisition: J.S.

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Correspondence to Jianrong Su.

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Cheng, X., Wang, Y., Ma, J. et al. Resistance phenotype and genetic features of a heterogeneous vancomycin intermediate–resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain from an immunocompromised patient. Braz J Microbiol 55, 323–332 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-023-01192-y

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