AUTHOR=Águila-Arcos Sandra , Álvarez-Rodríguez Itxaso , Garaiyurrebaso Olatz , Garbisu Carlos , Grohmann Elisabeth , Alkorta Itziar 

TITLE=Biofilm-Forming Clinical Staphylococcus Isolates Harbor Horizontal Transfer and Antibiotic Resistance Genes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02018

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.02018

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Infections caused by staphylococci represent a medical concern, especially when related to biofilms located in implanted medical devices, such as prostheses and catheters. Unfortunately, their frequent resistance to high doses of antibiotics makes the treatment of these infections a difficult task. Moreover, biofilms represent a hot spot for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) by bacterial conjugation. In this work, 25 biofilm-forming clinical staphylococcal isolates were studied. We found that <italic>Staphylococcus epidermidis</italic> isolates showed a higher biofilm-forming capacity than <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> isolates. Additionally, horizontal transfer and relaxase genes of two common staphylococcal plasmids, pSK41 and pT181, were detected in all isolates. In terms of antibiotic resistance genes, <italic>aac6-aph2a, ermC</italic>, and <italic>tetK</italic> genes, which confer resistance to gentamicin, erythromycin, and tetracycline, respectively, were the most prevalent. The horizontal transfer and antibiotic resistance genes harbored on these staphylococcal clinical strains isolated from biofilms located in implanted medical devices points to the potential risk of the development and dissemination of multiresistant bacteria.</p>