Distribution and Clonal Diversity of Staphylococcus aureus and Other Staphylococci in Surface Waters: Detection of ST425-t742 and ST130-t843 mec C-Positive MRSA Strains

Vanessa Silva; Eugénia Ferreira; Vera Manageiro; Lígia Reis; María Teresa Tejedor-Junco; Ana Sampaio; José Luis Capelo; Manuela Caniça; Gilberto Igrejas; Patrícia Poeta

doi:10.3390/antibiotics10111416

Distribution and Clonal Diversity of Staphylococcus aureus and Other Staphylococci in Surface Waters: Detection of ST425-t742 and ST130-t843 mec C-Positive MRSA Strains

Antibiotics (Basel). 2021 Nov 19;10(11):1416. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics10111416.

Authors

Vanessa Silva^{1

2

3

4}, Eugénia Ferreira^{5

6}, Vera Manageiro^{5

6}, Lígia Reis⁵, María Teresa Tejedor-Junco^{7

8}, Ana Sampaio^{9

10}, José Luis Capelo^{11

12}, Manuela Caniça^{5

6}, Gilberto Igrejas^{2

3

4}, Patrícia Poeta^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Microbiology and Antibiotic Resistance Team (MicroART), Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
² Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
³ Functional Genomics and Proteomics Unit, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁴ Associated Laboratory for Green Chemistry (LAQV-REQUIMTE), University NOVA of Lisboa, 2825-466 Lisbon, Portugal.
⁵ National Reference Laboratory of Antibiotic Resistances and Healthcare Associated Infections (NRL-AMR/HAI), Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal.
⁶ Centre for the Studies of Animal Science, Institute of Agrarian and Agri-Food Sciences and Technologies, Oporto University, 4051-401 Oporto, Portugal.
⁷ Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35001 Canary Islands, Spain.
⁸ Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35001 Canary Islands, Spain.
⁹ Department of Biology and Environment, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
¹⁰ Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), UTAD, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
¹¹ BIOSCOPE Group, LAQV@REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2825-466 Almada, Portugal.
¹² Proteomass Scientific Society, 2825-466 Setubal, Portugal.

Abstract

Natural aquatic environments represent one of the most important vehicles of bacterial dissemination. Therefore, we aimed to isolate staphylococci from surface waters and to investigate the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence factors as well as the genetic lineages of all Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Staphylococci were recovered from water samples collected from 78 surface waters, including rivers, streams, irrigation ditches, dams, lakes, and fountains. The presence of antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence factors was investigated by PCR. Multilocus sequence typing and spa-typing were performed in all S. aureus isolates. From the 78 water samples, 33 S. aureus, one S. pseudintermedius, and 51 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were identified. Among the S. aureus isolates, four MRSA were identified, and all harbored the mecC gene. Fourteen S. aureus were susceptible to all antimicrobials tested and the remaining showed resistance to penicillin, erythromycin and/or tetracycline encoded by the blaZ, ermT, msr(A/B), tetL, and vgaA genes. Regarding the clonal lineages, one mecC-MRSA isolate belonged to spa-type t843 and sequence type (ST) 130 and the other three to t742 and ST425. The remaining S. aureus were ascribed 14 spa-types and 17 sequence types. Eleven species of CoNS were isolated: S. sciuri, S. lentus, S. xylosus, S. epidermidis, S. cohnii spp. urealyticus, S. vitulinus, S. caprae, S. carnosus spp. Carnosus, S. equorum, S. simulans, and S. succinus. Thirteen CoNS isolates had a multidrug resistance profile and carried the following genes: mecA, msr(A/B), mph(C), aph(3')-IIIa, aac(6')-Ie-aph(2'')-Ia, dfrA, fusB, cat_pC221, and tetK. A high diversity of staphylococci was isolated from surface waters including mecCMRSA strains and isolates presenting multidrug-resistance profiles. Studies on the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant staphylococci in surface waters are still very scarce but extremely important to estimate the contribution of the aquatic environment in the spread of these bacteria.

Keywords: MRSA; Staphylococcus aureus; aquatic ecosystems; coagulase-negative staphylococci; environment; mecC; water.

Grants and funding

SFRH/BD/137947/2018/Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia