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Expressional Pattern of psm-mec System in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Under Oxacillin Stress

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Abstract

The psm-mec element and other regulatory factors such as sarA, agrA, and RNAIII are responsible for maintaining the genetic framework for enhanced virulence of MRSA. psm-mec is found predominantly in the staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCCmec). sarA, agrA, and RNAIII control gene expression to facilitate adaptation in certain environment. Genome-wide approaches have shown that expression of virulence factors is frequently regulated at transcriptional, translational level, and mRNA degradation level. In this study, transcriptional responses of psm-mec gene in accordance with other regulatory factors sarA, agrA, and RNAIII were observed under normal conditions as well as when exposed to 2 μg/ml and 6 μg/ml of oxacillin stress. One-way t-test was carried out for analysing RQ values obtained through real-time PCR. This study showed downregulation of psm-mec gene and upregulation of other regulatory genes at lower concentration of oxacillin. However, this was reverse when exposed against higher concentration of oxacillin. It was observed from the study that the expression of virulence factors were dependent on each other under different concentration of oxacillin. Thus, this study highlights that psm-mec, sarA, agrA, and RNAIII gene are under direct control of antibiotic pressure in a concentration-dependent manner.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Biotech Hub, Assam University, Silchar, India for providing the infrastructure and Department of Biotechnology, Govt. Of India for financial support vide no (BT/PR22757/MED/29/1172/2016). The authors would also like to thank Mr. Dipankar Das and Mr. Jitesh Kumar Surana, PhD Scholar Department of Commerce, for insightful analysis of the statistical work.

Funding

The study was financially supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India programme [BT/PR22757/MED/29/1172/2016].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, India

    Deepshikha Bhowmik, Shiela Chetri, Piyush Pandey, Bhaskar Jyoti Das, Jayalaxmi Wangkheimayum, Nargis Alom Choudhury & Amitabha Bhattacharjee

  2. Department of Microbiology, Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Silchar, Assam, India

    K. Melson Singha & Debadatta Dhar Chanda

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  1. Deepshikha Bhowmik
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Bhowmik, D., Chetri, S., Pandey, P. et al. Expressional Pattern of psm-mec System in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Under Oxacillin Stress. Curr Microbiol 78, 528–533 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02336-1

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