Staphylococcus

Staphylococcus aureus

I. Organism Information

A. Taxonomy Information

1. Species

a. Staphylococcus aureus

i. Taxonomy ID: 1280

ii. Description:

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive pathogen that causes a wide range of diseases, and is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics (1). These resistant bacteria are called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. S. aureus is responsible for a variety of ailments, including carbuncles, food poisoning, wound and medical device-related infections, bacteremia, necrotizing pneumonia, and endocarditis (2). S. aureus forms a fairly large yellow colony on rich medium and is hemolytic on blood agar. Staphylococci are facultative anaerobes that ferment glucose to lactate. The bacteria are catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. S. aureus can grow at a temperature range of 15 to 45 degrees and at NaCl concentrations as high as 15 percent. Almost all strains of S. aureus produce the enzyme coagulase. S. aureus should always be considered a potential pathogen (3).

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iii. Variants

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus
Taxonomy ID: 46170

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus COL
Taxonomy ID: 93062
Parent: Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus MRSA252
Taxonomy ID: 282458
Parent: Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus MSSA476
Taxonomy ID: 282459
Parent: Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus MW2
Taxonomy ID: 196620
Parent: Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus Mu50
Taxonomy ID: 158878
Parent: Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus N315
Taxonomy ID: 158879
Parent: Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus

B. Lifecycle and Morphology

1. (To contribute to this description of the infection cycle, please contact help@nmpdr.org)

a. Shape:

Cocci 0.5-1.0 μm in diameter. Cells occur singly or in pairs. Division is in two planes, giving rise to clusters. Colonies are smooth, raised, glistening, circular, entire and translucent. Single colonies may obtain a size of 6-8 mm in diameter (4).

b. Picture:

SEM of numerous clumps of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly referred to by the acronym, MRSA (magnified 9560x), by Janice Carr, CDC

C. Genome Summary

1. Genome of Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus COL

a. Chromosome

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_002951
ii. Size: 2,809,422 bp
iii. S. aureus COL is an early methicillin-resistant isolate (5).

b. Plasmid pT181

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_006629
ii. Size: 4,440 bp

II. References

1.  Sanger Institute

2.  Holden MT, Feil EJ, Lindsay JA, Peacock SJ, Day NP, Enright MC, Foster TJ, Moore CE, Hurst L, Atkin R, Barron A, Bason N, Bentley SD, Chillingworth C, Chillingworth T, Churcher C, Clark L, Corton C, Cronin A, Doggett J, Dowd L, Feltwell T, Hance Z, Harris B, Hauser H, Holroyd S, Jagels K, James KD, Lennard N, Line A, Mayes R, Moule S, Mungall K, Ormond D, Quail MA, Rabbinowitsch E, Rutherford K, Sanders M, Sharp S, Simmonds M, Stevens K, Whitehead S, Barrell BG, Spratt BG, Parkhill J. (2004) Complete genomes of two clinical Staphylococcus aureus strains: evidence for the rapid evolution of virulence and drug resistance. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 101: 9786-91.

3.   http://textbookofbacteriology.net/staph.html

4.   Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 9th edition. John G. Holt, Noel R. Krieg, Peter H.A. Sneath, James T. Staley, and Stanley T. Williams, editors. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1994, pp. 518.

5.   Gill SR, Fouts DE, Archer GL, Mongodin EF, Deboy RT, Ravel J, Paulsen IT, Kolonay JF, Brinkac L, Beanan M, Dodson RJ, Daugherty SC, Madupu R, Angiuoli SV, Durkin AS, Haft DH, Vamathevan J, Khouri H, Utterback T, Lee C, Dimitrov G, Jiang L, Qin H, Weidman J, Tran K, Kang K, Hance IR, Nelson KE, and Fraser CM. (2005) Insights on evolution of virulence and resistance from the complete genome analysis of an early methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain and a biofilm-producing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis strain. J. Bacteriol. 187: 2426-2438.

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Infection fears prompt cleaning kit sales United Press International - Jan 3, 2009 ... concerns about the potential spread of infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday. ...

Heal and Prevent Boils Naturally Natural News.com, AZ - Jan 3, 2009 Boils are round, pus-filled bumps on the skin that are caused by a Staphylococcus aureus bacteria infection. These infections typically begin deep in the ...

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