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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
The multidrug-resistant PMEN1 pneumococcus is a paradigm for genetic success
Genome Biology, Volume 13, No. 11, Article R103, Year 2012
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Description
Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae, also called the pneumococcus, is a major bacterial pathogen. Since its introduction in the 1940s, penicillin has been the primary treatment for pneumococcal diseases. Penicillin resistance rapidly increased among pneumococci over the past 30 years, and one particular multidrug-resistant clone, PMEN1, became highly prevalent globally. We studied a collection of 426 pneumococci isolated between 1937 and 2007 to better understand the evolution of penicillin resistance within this species.Results: We discovered that one of the earliest known penicillin-nonsusceptible pneumococci, recovered in 1967 from Australia, was the likely ancestor of PMEN1, since approximately 95% of coding sequences identified within its genome were highly similar to those of PMEN1. The regions of the PMEN1 genome that differed from the ancestor contained genes associated with antibiotic resistance, transmission and virulence. We also revealed that PMEN1 was uniquely promiscuous with its DNA, donating penicillin-resistance genes and sometimes many other genes associated with antibiotic resistance, virulence and cell adherence to many genotypically diverse pneumococci. In particular, we describe two strains in which up to 10% of the PMEN1 genome was acquired in multiple fragments, some as long as 32 kb, distributed around the recipient genomes. This type of directional genetic promiscuity from a single clone to numerous unrelated clones has, to our knowledge, never before been described.Conclusions: These findings suggest that PMEN1 is a paradigm of genetic success both through its epidemiology and promiscuity. These findings also challenge the existing views about horizontal gene transfer among pneumococci. © 2012 Wyres et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S1.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S2.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S3.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S4.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S5.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S6.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S7.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S8.PDF
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3580495/bin/gb-2012-13-11-r103-S9.PDF
Authors & Co-Authors
Wyres, Kelly L.
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Lambertsen, Lotte Munch
Denmark, Copenhagen
Statens Serum Institut
Croucher, Nicholas J.
United Kingdom, Hinxton
Wellcome Sanger Institute
McGee, Lesley
United States, Atlanta
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
von Gottberg, Anne M.
South Africa, Johannesburg
National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Liñares, J. P.
Spain, Barcelona
Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge
Jacobs, Michael R.
United States, Cleveland
Case Western Reserve University
Kristinsson, Karl Gustaf
Iceland, Reykjavik
Landspitali - the National University Hospital of Iceland
Beall, Bernard W.
United States, Atlanta
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Klugman, K. P.
United States, Atlanta
Rollins School of Public Health
Parkhill, Julian
United Kingdom, Hinxton
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Hakenbeck, Regine
Germany, Kaiserslautern
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Bentley, Stephen D.
United Kingdom, Hinxton
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Brueggemann, Angela B.
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Statistics
Citations: 49
Authors: 14
Affiliations: 10
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1186/gb-2012-13-11-r103
e-ISSN:
1474760X
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics