Population genetics and the evolution of virulence in Staphylococcus aureus

Kyra Y L Chua; Benjamin P Howden; Jhih-Hang Jiang; Timothy Stinear; Anton Y Peleg

doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2013.04.026

Population genetics and the evolution of virulence in Staphylococcus aureus

Infect Genet Evol. 2014 Jan:21:554-62. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2013.04.026. Epub 2013 Apr 27.

Authors

Kyra Y L Chua¹, Benjamin P Howden², Jhih-Hang Jiang³, Timothy Stinear⁴, Anton Y Peleg⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia; Austin Centre for Infection Research (ACIR), Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia; Microbiology Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia.
² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia; Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Austin Centre for Infection Research (ACIR), Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia; Microbiology Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia.
³ Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
⁴ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3181, Australia; Division of Infectious Diseases, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: anton.peleg@monash.edu.

PMID: 23628638
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2013.04.026

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important human pathogens, causing life-threatening infection in the community and hospital setting. The population genetics of S. aureus and the evolution of virulence is the focus of this review. We describe the various techniques in determining S. aureus population structure and discuss the insights gained from whole genome sequencing of various S. aureus strains. The emergence of community-acquired, methicillin-resistant S. aureus provides a framework for the discussion on evolution of virulence, and the role of horizontal gene transfer in the development of virulence and antibiotic resistance is explored. The knowledge generated from population genetics has the potential to inform strategies to assist in the prevention or treatment of this highly successful human pathogen.

Keywords: Methicillin-resistant S. aureus; Molecular epidemiology; Multi-locus sequence typing; S. aureus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Drug Resistance, Bacterial
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Transfer, Horizontal
Genome, Bacterial
Humans
Molecular Typing
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Staphylococcal Infections / microbiology
Staphylococcus aureus / classification
Staphylococcus aureus / genetics*
Staphylococcus aureus / isolation & purification
Staphylococcus aureus / pathogenicity*
Virulence Factors / genetics*
Virulence Factors / metabolism

Substances

Virulence Factors