Genomic epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from swine in Brazil

• Grant number: 23/01922-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Andrea Micke Moreno
• Grantee: Felipe Mendes Perez Zorzi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The genus Staphylococcus is composed of species widely distributed in nature and typically commensals of various animals, but which have emerged globally as pathogens of clinical relevance and reservoirs for the proliferation of mobile genetic elements that encode determinants for antimicrobial resistance, virulence and pathogenicity. These zoonotic agents gained prominence due to the selection of strains that carry methicillin resistance, and these strains are associated with people in the community, hospital environments or production animals. The main objective of this study is the genomic analysis of a collection of 100 strains of S. aureus positive for the mecA gene, from pigs reared on 19 farms in different regions of Brazil. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the effects of the selective pressure exerted by the use of antimicrobials on the genomic evolution of these agents, to characterize the repertoire of recombinant elements that are perpetuated in the evaluated environment, to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the transferability of these structures and to investigate the scope of their dissemination between staphylococcal species and other Gram-positive genera. (AU)