Department of Microbiology, University of Thessaly, University Hospital of Larissa, Greece.
Microb Pathog. 2009 Dec;47(6):341-4. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2009.09.011. Epub 2009 Sep 25.
Pathogenicity of Staphylococcus aureus is coordinated by the accessory gene regulator (agr) system. Previous studies suggested that agr Group II methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), a polymorphism that has been associated with moderate response to vancomycin, may also be related with overproduction of biofilm. In a hospital environment with endemic occurrence of MRSA, the distribution of agr groups and their association with biofilm formation was investigated. Forty-two MRSA and 32 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates were tested and had derived from 10 genotypes and 8 clonal complexes. agr Groups I, II and IV were evenly distributed among MRSAs and MSSAs but agr Group III was not detected. agr Group II MRSAs showed significantly higher levels of biofilm production in comparison with MRSAs of the remaining agr groups as well as with all three agr groups of MSSAs. These findings suggest that agr Group II is simultaneously associated with methicillin-resistance and biofilm overproduction in a region with endemic MRSA.
金黄色葡萄球菌的致病性由辅助基因调控（agr）系统协调。先前的研究表明，agr 组 II 耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）是一种与万古霉素中度反应相关的多态性，也可能与生物膜过度产生有关。在 MRSA 地方性流行的医院环境中，研究了 agr 组的分布及其与生物膜形成的关系。对 42 株 MRSA 和 32 株甲氧西林敏感的金黄色葡萄球菌（MSSA）进行了检测，这些菌株来源于 10 种基因型和 8 种克隆复合体。agr 组 I、II 和 IV 在 MRSA 和 MSSA 中分布均匀，但未检测到 agr 组 III。agr 组 II MRSA 与其余 agr 组的 MRSA 以及所有 3 种 agr 组的 MSSA 相比，生物膜产生水平显著升高。这些发现表明，在 MRSA 地方性流行的地区，agr 组 II 同时与耐甲氧西林和生物膜过度产生有关。
