Abstract: Leukocidins of (.) are bicomponent toxins that form polymeric pores in host leukocyte membranes, leading to cell death and/or triggering apoptosis. Some of these toxin genes are located on prophages and are associated with specific hosts. The genes have been described from equine isolates. We examined the genomes, including the prophages, of strains belonging to clonal complexes CC1, CC350, CC816, and CC8115. In addition to sequencing, phages were characterised by mitomycin C induction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All prophages integrated into the = gene, and all included also the gene encoding an equine staphylococcal complement inhibitor. The prophages clustered, based on gene content and allelic variants, into three groups. One was found in CC1 and CC97 sequences; one was present mainly in CC350 but also in other lineages (CC1, CC97, CC133, CC398); and a third one was exclusively observed in CC816 and CC8115. Prophages of the latter group additionally included a rare enterotoxin A allele (). Moreover, a prophage from a CC522 goat isolate was found to harbour . Its component could be regarded as chimaera comprising parts of and of . A putative kinase gene of 1095 basepairs was found to be associated with equine strains of . It was also localised on prophages. However, these prophages were different from the ones that carried , and three different integration sites of kinase-carrying phages were identified. These observations confirmed the presence of prophage-located important virulence-associated genes in equine and that certain prophages might determine the host specificity of the staphylococcal strains they reside in.
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Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Burgold-Voigt, Sindy
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Feßler, Andrea T
Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics and Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany.
Krapf, Martina
LABOKLIN GmbH&Co. KG, 97688 Bad Kissingen, Germany.
Loncaric, Igor
Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Liebler-Tenorio, Elisabeth M
Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health), 07743 Jena, Germany.
Braun, Sascha D
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Diezel, Celia
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Müller, Elke
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Reinicke, Martin
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Reissig, Annett
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Cabal Rosel, Adriana
Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Ruppitsch, Werner
Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
FoodHub-Centre of Excellence for Digitalisation of Microbial Food Safety Risk Assessment and Quality Parameters for AccurFood Authenticity Certification, University of Donja Gorica, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro.
Hotzel, Helmut
Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health), 07743 Jena, Germany.
Hanke, Dennis
Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics and Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany.
Cuny, Christiane
Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch, 38855 Wernigerode, Germany.
Witte, Wolfgang
Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch, 38855 Wernigerode, Germany.
Schwarz, Stefan
Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics and Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research (TZR), School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany.
Ehricht, Ralf
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI), Germany and InfectoGnostics Research Campus, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Institute of Physical Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller University, 07743 Jena, Germany.
MeSH Terms
Horses / microbiology
Prophages / genetics
Prophages / ultrastructure
Animals
Staphylococcus aureus / genetics
Staphylococcus aureus / virology
Leukocidins / genetics
Bacterial Proteins / genetics
Staphylococcal Infections / veterinary
Staphylococcal Infections / microbiology
Grant Funding
13GW0456 / Federal Ministry of Education and Research
13N15717 / Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Conflict of Interest Statement
Martina Krapf is employed by the veterinary laboratory provider LABOKLIN GmbH&Co. KG. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Citations
This article has been cited 7 times.
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