Staphylococcus haemolyticus is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that colonizes human skin and is remarkable for its highly antibiotic-resistant phenotype. We determined the complete genome sequence of S. haemolyticus to better understand its pathogenicity and evolutionary relatedness to the other staphylococcal species. A large proportion of the open reading frames in the genomes of S. haemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis were conserved in their sequence and order on the chromosome. We identified a region of the bacterial chromosome just downstream of the origin of replication that showed little homology among the species but was conserved among strains within a species. This novel region, designated the "oriC environ," likely contributes to the evolution and differentiation of the staphylococcal species, since it was enriched for species-specific nonessential genes that contribute to the biological features of each staphylococcal species. A comparative analysis of the genomes of S. haemolyticus, S. aureus, and S. epidermidis elucidated differences in their biological and genetic characteristics and pathogenic potentials. We identified as many as 82 insertion sequences in the S. haemolyticus chromosome that probably mediated frequent genomic rearrangements, resulting in phenotypic diversification of the strain. Such rearrangements could have brought genomic plasticity to this species and contributed to its acquisition of antibiotic resistance.As a part of the normal bacterial flora, staphylococci colonize the skin and mucosal membranes of humans. In addition, staphylococci frequently cause opportunistic infections in patients with underlying disease, such as those with prosthetic devices, surgical patients, individuals undergoing dialysis, or patients with diabetes. Since antibiotic chemotherapy was introduced in the last century, staphylococci have successfully persisted by altering their genetic traits to avoid being killed. Multidrug-resistant staphylococcal strains, exemplified by methicillin-resistant staphylococci, are now prevalent worldwide. Among 40 staphylococcal species described to date, Staphylococcus aureus is the most virulent species and poses the greatest threat in hospitals worldwide. In addition to its nosocomial spread, S. aureus has also become problematic in community settings, where individuals without predisposing factors have acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcal infections. Although most community-acquired staphylococcal infections involve the skin and soft tissues, some otherwise healthy children have acquired potentially lethal S. aureus infections with severe symptoms, such as necrotizing pneumonia (5,28,29).To gain a better understanding of the overall pathogenesis of staphylococcal infections and identify novel targets for new chemotherapeutic agents, researchers have sequenced the genomes of seven S. aureus strains (3,9,13,22). A comparative analysis of these strains has revealed that many genes involved in staphylococcal pathogenicity and...

Staphylococcus (S.) aureus silently stays as our natural flora, and yet sometimes threatens our life as a tenacious pathogen. In addition to its ability to outwit our immune system, its multi-drug resistance phenotype makes it one of the most intractable pathogenic bacteria in the history of antibiotic chemotherapy. It conquered practically all the antibiotics that have been developed since 1940s. In 1961, the first MRSA was found among S. aureus clinical isolates. Then MRSA prevailed throughout the world as a multi-resistant hospital pathogen. In 1997, MRSA strain Mu50 with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin was isolated. Vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA), so named according to the CLSI criteria, was the product of adaptive mutation of S. aureus against vancomycin that had long been the last resort to MRSA infection. Here, we describe the genetic basis for the remarkable ability of S. aureus to acquire multi-antibiotic resistance, and propose a novel paradigm for future chemotherapy against the multi-resistant pathogens.

Since the discovery of the first strain in 1961 in England, MRSA, the most notorious multidrug-resistant hospital pathogen, has spread all over the world. MRSA repeatedly turned down the challenges by number of chemotherapeutics, the fruits of modern organic chemistry. Now, we are in short of effective therapeutic agents against MRSA prevailing among immuno-compromised patients in the hospital. On top of this, we recently became aware of the rise of diverse clones of MRSA, some of which have increased pathogenic potential compared to the classical hospital-associated MRSA, and the others from veterinary sources. They increased rapidly in the community, and started menacing otherwise healthy individuals by causing unexpected acute infection. This review is intended to provide a whole picture of MRSA based on its genetic makeup as a versatile pathogen and our tenacious colonizer.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) has long been considered a critical toxin in severe Staphylococcus aureus infection. PVL presumably breaches the body's defense system by lysing human polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). Recently, however, bioactive peptides--phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs)--have been proposed as the main player in the lysis of PMNs, rather than PVL. This study aimed to resolve uncertainty concerning the cause of the lysis of human PMNs by using recombinant PVL toxins and PVL-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. The recombinant PVL toxins showed strong lytic activity against human but not murine neutrophils. Moreover, the lytic activity of culture supernatants of strains USA400 MW2 and USA300 FPR3757 were completely neutralized by anti-PVL monoclonal antibodies. In contrast, phenol-soluble modulin alpha 3--the most potent PSM peptide--failed to lyse human PMNs at the concentrations contained in the culture supernatants. Phenol-soluble modulin alpha 3 did, however, enhance PVL-mediated lysis of human PMNs.

By screening cultures of soil bacteria, we re-discovered an old antibiotic (nybomycin) as an antibiotic with a novel feature. Nybomycin is active against quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains with mutated gyrA genes but not against those with intact gyrA genes against which quinolone antibiotics are effective. Nybomycin-resistant mutant strains were generated from a quinolone-resistant, nybomycin-susceptible, vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) strain Mu 50. The mutants, occurring at an extremely low rate (<1 × 10(-11)/generation), were found to have their gyrA genes back-mutated and to have lost quinolone resistance. Here we describe nybomycin as the first member of a novel class of antibiotics designated 'reverse antibiotics'.