Characteristics of qacA/B-positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients and a hospital environment in China.

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to demonstrate the characteristics of qacA/B-positive Staphylococcus aureus in China. METHODS: One hundred and forty-five MRSA and 178 MSSA from clinical specimens from seven hospitals in different regions of China, 70 MRSA from superficial sites of patients and 106 MRSA from environmental samples from an ICU were collected and screened for the presence of the qacA/B gene. The qacA/B-positive isolates and 72 randomly selected qacA/B-negative control isolates were further characterized by MLST, spa typing and detection of toxin genes, as well as antimicrobial and chlorhexidine susceptibility. SCCmec typing was conducted for MRSA. PFGE was conducted for qacA/B-positive isolates. RESULTS: Twenty-five (7.8%) of the 321 MRSA isolates harboured qacA/B, including 11 isolates from clinical specimens (7.6%), 12 isolates from patients' superficial sites (17.1%) and 2 isolates from an ICU environment (1.9%). Ten and five qacA/B-positive MRSA were identified as ST239-t030-MRSA-III and ST239-t037-MRSA-III, respectively. Six PFGE clusters and five singletons were identified among the 25 qacA/B-positive MRSA. Only one (0.6%) of the 178 MSSA isolates harboured qacA/B. qacA/B carriage in MRSA was statistically associated with spa-t037 and the presence of mupA. Compared with qacA/B-negative MRSA, the qacA/B-positive MRSA exhibited a lower susceptibility to chlorhexidine and higher resistance rates to clindamycin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. CONCLUSIONS: Carriage of qacA/B, although it had a low prevalence, might be the main reason for declining susceptibility to chlorhexidine in MRSA from Chinese patients and is probably associated with spa-t037 and the presence of the mupA gene.

Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus from distinct geographic locations in China: an increasing prevalence of spa-t030 and SCCmec type III.

Staphylococcus aureus belongs to one of the most common bacteria causing healthcare and community associated infections in China, but their molecular characterization has not been well studied. From May 2011 to June 2012, a total of 322 non-duplicate S. aureus isolates were consecutively collected from seven tertiary care hospitals in seven cities with distinct geographical locations in China, including 171 methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and 151 MRSA isolates. All isolates were characterized by spa typing. The presence of virulence genes was tested by PCR. MRSA were further characterized by SCCmec typing. Seventy four and 16 spa types were identified among 168 MSSA and 150 MRSA, respectively. One spa type t030 accounted for 80.1% of all MRSA isolates, which was higher than previously reported, while spa-t037 accounted for only 4.0% of all MRSA isolates. The first six spa types (t309, t189, t034, t377, t078 and t091) accounted for about one third of all MSSA isolates. 121 of 151 MRSA isolates (80.1%) were identified as SCCmec type III. pvl gene was found in 32 MSSA (18.7%) and 5 MRSA (3.3%) isolates, with ST22-MSSA-t309 as the most commonly identified strain. Compared with non-epidemic MRSA clones, epidemic MRSA clones (corresponding to ST239) exhibited a lower susceptibility to rifampin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, a higher prevalence of sea gene and a lower prevalence of seb, sec, seg, sei and tst genes. The increasing prevalence of multidrug resistant spa-t030 MRSA represents a major public health problem in China.

[Listeria-induced host cellular actin cytoskeleton rearrangement and phospholipase D].

Either phagocytosis of macrophage to pathogen or pathogen-induced invasion into non-professional phagocytes, such as epithelial cells, require actin cytoskeletal rearrangements and remodeling of the plasma membrane, which are regulated precisely by monogeric GTPase and the correlated proteins. As a key signaling molecule in the cell, phosphotidicphospholipase D (PLD) regulates or interacts directly with cellular actin cytoskeleton rearrangement. Phospholipase D plays an important role in FcgammaRI and C-reactive protein-mediated phagocytosis and phosphorylated cofilin, a ADF (actin depolymerizing factor) is able to bind to phospholipase D and stimulate it; meanwhile, the Listeria-induced actin cytoskeleton rearrangement during the infection is controlled by the phosphorylation of cofilin. Thus, it made challenge to disclose the function of PLD on the regulation of Listeria-induced actin cytoskeleton rearrangement during infection, furthermore, it may provide us more understanding on the role of PLD in the infection and inflammation, which is essential to dissect the molecular mechanism of bacterial-host interaction more thoroughly.

[Sterilizing effect of atmospheric pressure plasma jet on microbes].

To study the sterilizing effect and mechanism of APPJ on microbes preliminarily, three representative bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis var. niger were treated by two kinds of plasma, DBD (dielectric barrier discharge) and APPJ. The survival curves of different microbes were compared and analyzed; Furthermore, the morphological change to cell walls and cell membranes were studied by scanning electric microscope. These results demonstrated that in the beginning phase the sterilizing effect of two kinds of plasmas on three microorganisms was stronger than in the later phase, and APPJ was more effective than DBD (D value of DBD on Bacillus subtilis var. niger was 70 s, whereas APPJ's was 4 s, much more efficient). Meanwhile, the gross morphological damage of E. coli cells under SEM after APPJ treatment was observed. These gave the obvious evidence that APPJ can destroy the microbes very efficiently, and more likely through the damage of cell walls and membranes of microbes treated by APPJ.