ABSTRACT
AIMS: The authors had for aim to assess whether an in-hospital spread of the European community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) clone was on-going in Annaba, Eastern Algeria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We carried out a molecular epidemiological study of S. aureus strains causing infections in 4 hospitals located in Annaba, between February and October 2010. RESULTS: Our study revealed a very low healthcare-associated MRSA (HCA-MRSA) infection incidence rate of 0.34 per 1000 patient-days. However, the rates of HCA-MRSA strains (85/119) and CA-MRSA (7/29) among S. aureus strains are much higher than those found in France. The European CA-MRSA clone (clonal complex 80, Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec IVc, spa type t044, lukS/F-PV-positive) accounted for 14.1% of all healthcare-associated (HCA) MRSA infections. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the emerging role of CA-MRSA as HCA pathogens in North-African Africa.
Subject(s)
Cross Infection/microbiology , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/classification , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology , Adolescent , Adult , Algeria , Child , Child, Preschool , Community-Acquired Infections/epidemiology , Community-Acquired Infections/microbiology , Cross Infection/epidemiology , Europe , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
Being sessile organisms, plants need rapid and finely tuned signaling pathways to adapt their growth and survival over their immediate and often adverse environment. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone crucial for both biotic and abiotic stress responses. In this study, we highlight a function of six Arabidopsis MATH-BTB proteins in ABA signaling. MATH-BTB proteins act as substrate-binding adaptors for the Cullin3-based ubiquitin E3 ligase. Our genetic and biochemical experiments demonstrate that the MATH-BTB proteins directly interact with and target for proteasomal degradation the class I homeobox-leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) transcription factor ATHB6, which was previously identified as a negative regulator of ABA responses. Reducing CUL3(BPM) function leads to higher ATHB6 protein accumulation, reducing plant growth and fertility, and affects stomatal behavior and responses to ABA. We further demonstrate that ABA negatively regulates ATHB6 protein turnover, a situation reminiscent to ABI5, another transcription factor involved in ABA signaling.
