Novel Type of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec in a Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus hominis strain Isolated in Kenya

We identified a novel type of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element carried by methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus hominis strain UGA8 obtained from a referral hospital in Siaya, Kenya. The element carried... [ view full abstract ]

We identified a novel type of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element carried by methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus hominis strain UGA8 obtained from a referral hospital in Siaya, Kenya. The element carried a novel combination of a type 4 ccr gene A4B4 complex and class C1 mec gene complex (‘IS431-mvaS-ugpQ- maoC-mecA-ΔmecR1-IS431), with flanking region harboring arsenic resistance genes.  This mec gene complex in UGA8 is different from any known SCCmec gene complexes structurally and likely evolves differently.  Drug resistance genes coexisted in composite SCC, suggesting that these resistance genes might be coselected under environmental pressure. In addition, we report the complete draft genome sequences of 15 Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus strains, including S. saprophyticus, S. warneri , S.epidermidis, S. xylosus, S. aureus and a Type V SCCmec Staphylococcus haemolyticus isolated from the same hospital.   Our study of the structure and variations of SCCmec and MDR gene cluster will allow for quicker and easier molecular detection of this clone and monitoring of its spread.