Staphylococcus aureus MRSA252 and MSSA476

Image source: Holden et al., (2004)

[Top left] GFP labelled S. aureus cells inside MacT cells - credit Dr. Phil Hill, University of Nottingham.

The Sanger Institute has recently published the 2.8 Mb genomes of two strains of Staphylococcus aureus in collaboration with Prof. Tim Foster of the Department of Microbiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Prof. Brian Spratt of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Mark Enright of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, and Dr. Nicholas Day and Dr. Sharon Peacock of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

S. aureus is a Gram +ve pathogen that causes a wide range of diseases, and is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. The two strains sequenced are a recent U.K. hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain, representative of the epidemic strain EMRSA-16 (MRSA252), and a hyper-virulent community acquired methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strain (MSSA476). The strains sequenced are described in a recent paper on MLST typing of S. aureus by Enright et al., and further clinical details on the strains are available from the MLST website.

The sequenced strains are available from NARSA; see their Genome Sequencing Strains page.

		S. aureus MRSA252 and MSSA476 Data     The complete MRSA252 chromosome sequence and annotation in Artemis format.     The complete MSSA476 chromosome sequence and annotation in Artemis format.     The MSSA476 pSAS plasmid sequence and annotation in Artemis format.     A BLAST server allowing searching of the chromosome sequences and predicted CDSs.     FTP access to the sequences and CDS databases.       ACT comparison file of MRSA252 to MSSA476 (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MRSA252 to S. aureus N315 (EMBL:BA000018) (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MRSA252 to S. aureus Mu50 (EMBL:BA000017) (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MRSA252 to S. aureus MW2 (EMBL:BA000033) (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MRSA252 to S. epidermidis ATCC12228 (EMBL:AE015929) (TBLASTX, filters: score 50).     ACT comparison file of MRSA252 to B. subtilis (EMBL:AL009126) (TBLASTX, filters: score 50).       ACT comparison file of MSSA476 to MRSA252 (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MSSA476 to S. aureus N315 (EMBL:BA000018) (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MSSA476 to S. aureus Mu50 (EMBL:BA000017) (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MSSA476 to S. aureus MW2 (EMBL:BA000033) (BLASTN, filters: score 100).     ACT comparison file of MSSA476 to S. epidermidis ATCC12228 (EMBL:AE015929) (TBLASTX, filters: score 50).     ACT comparison file of MSSA476 to B. subtilis (EMBL:AL009126) (TBLASTX, filters: score 50).

The databases are available for searching on our BLAST server, and for download from our FTP site

The annotation for the two S. aureus genomes is now accessible through GeneDB. GeneDB allows searching, browsing and download of the full annotation.

Reference:

"Complete genomes of two clinical Staphylococcus aureus strains: Evidence for the rapid evolution of virulence and drug resistance" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 9786-9791 (2004).

M.T.G. Holden, E.J. Feil, J.A. Lindsay, S.J. Peacock, N.P. J. Day, M.C. Enright, T.J. Foster, C.E. Moore, L.Hurst, R. Atkin, A. Barron, N. Bason, S.D. Bentley, C. Chillingworth, T. Chillingworth, C. Churcher, L. Clark, C. Corton, A. Cronin, J. Doggett, L. Dowd, T. Feltwell, Z. Hance, B. Harris, H. Hauser, S. Holroyd, K. Jagels, K.D. James, N. Lennard, A. Line, R. Mayes, S. Moule, K. Mungall, D. Ormond, M.A. Quail, E. Rabbinowitsch, K. Rutherford, M. Sanders, S. Sharp, M. Simmonds, K. Stevens, S. Whitehead, B.G. Barrell, B.G. Spratt and J. Parkhill.

Other sites that may be of interest:

• S. aureus strain COL genome sequencing at TIGR

• S. aureus strain NCTC8325 genome sequencing at the University of Oklahoma

• S. aureus strains N315, Mu50 and MW2 (Japanese consortia websites)

• S. aureus strains N315 and Mu50 publication

• S. aureus strain MW2 publication

This project is funded by Beowulf Genomics