Bioinformatics Program, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
Viruses. 2021 Feb 22;13(2):337. doi: 10.3390/v13020337.
infections are of growing concern given the increased incidence of antibiotic resistant strains. Egypt, like several other countries, has seen alarming increases in methicillin-resistant (MRSA) infections. This species can rapidly acquire genes associated with resistance, as well as virulence factors, through mobile genetic elements, including phages. Recently, we sequenced 56 genomes from Alexandria Main University Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, complementing 17 genomes publicly available from other sites in Egypt. In the current study, we found that the majority (73.6%) of these strains contain intact prophages, including Biseptimaviruses, Phietaviruses, and Triaviruses. Further investigation of these prophages revealed evidence of horizontal exchange of the integrase for two of the prophages. These Egyptian prophages are predicted to encode numerous virulence factors, including genes associated with immune evasion and toxins, including the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-associated genes -PV/-PV. Thus, prophages are likely to be a major contributor to the virulence of strains in circulation in Egypt.
鉴于抗生素耐药株的发病率不断上升，感染问题越来越令人担忧。埃及和其他几个国家一样，耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）感染的惊人增长率。这种物种可以通过移动遗传元件（包括噬菌体）迅速获得与耐药性相关的基因以及毒力因子。最近，我们对来自埃及亚历山大大学附属医院的 56 个基因组进行了测序，补充了来自埃及其他地点的 17 个公开可用的基因组。在当前的研究中，我们发现这些菌株中的大多数（73.6％）含有完整的前噬菌体，包括 Biseptimaviruses、Phietaviruses 和 Triaviruses。对这些前噬菌体的进一步研究表明，有两个前噬菌体的整合酶存在水平交换的证据。这些埃及前噬菌体预计会编码许多毒力因子，包括与免疫逃避和毒素相关的基因，包括与 Panton-Valentine 白细胞毒素（PVL）相关的基因 -PV/-PV。因此，前噬菌体可能是埃及流行菌株毒力的主要贡献者。
