Publication details
Detection of prophages in TSST-1-positive <I>Staphylococcus aureus</I> strains by means of specific probes
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2001 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Scripta medica |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Genetics and molecular biology |
| Keywords | Staphylococcus aureus; TSST-1 toxin; Toxic Shock Syndrom; molecular identification; prophages; lysogeny |
| Description | The strains of Staphylococcus aureus producing TSST-1 toxin can induce human disease called Toxic Shock Syndrom (TSS).Production of staphylococcal toxins is based on the function of genes, which are usually localised in chromosome of host bacterium,but sometimes they can be a part of prophage genome.Temperate bacteriophages of S.aureus can move genes by transduction and/or mediate lysogenic conversion of bacterial cells,which leads to increased ability of toxin production, usually of enterotoxins A and E. In this study 25 strains of S.aureus were analysed for presence of prophages of the serological groups A,and F. The presence of prophages was determined using hybridisation by means of specific probes to Sma I and Hin dIII DNA restriction patterns of S.aureus strains.Probes were prepared from genomic sequences of phages 77 (serological group F),53 (serological group B)and 3A(serological group A). Positive signal in Sma I restriction patterns was found in 92 %strains when probe 77A was used. On the other hand probes 53B and 3A hybridised to 45 %strains only. The presence of at least one of prophages (of three tested serological groups)was detected in Hin dIII restriction patterns of 96 %strains.The prophages of serological group F were detected in 84 %strains.Therefore we suppose that TSST-1 positive strains contain mostly prophages of serological group F.The occurrence of prophages of serological groups A and is less abundant. In conclusion we suppose that there is a certain correlation between presence of prophages of serological group F in the bacterial cells and their ability to produce TSST-1. |
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