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SCCmec, or staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec, is a mobile genetic element of Staphylococcus bacterial species. This genetic sequence includes the mecA gene coding for resistance to the antibiotic methicillin and is the only known way for Staphylococcus strains to spread the gene in the wild by horizontal gene transfer. [1]
The mecA gene, which confers resistance to a number of antibiotics, is always present in MRSA and usually absent in MSSA; however, in some instances, the mecA gene is present in MSSA but is not expressed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is the most precise method for identifying MRSA strains. Specialized culture media have been ...
Biology. mecA, responsible for methicillin resistance in MRSA; Meca, a snout moth genus in the subfamily Pyralinae; Places. Meca (Alenquer) ...
Resistance to methicillin is conferred by activation of a new bacterial penicillin binding protein (PBP) mecA gene. This encodes protein PBP2a. This encodes protein PBP2a. PBP2a works in a similar manner to other PBPs, but it binds β-lactams with very low affinity, meaning they do not compete efficiently with the natural substrate of the ...
Genetic testing, such as via polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA microarray, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification, may be used to detect whether bacteria possess genes which confer antibiotic resistance. [9] [23] An example is the use of PCR to detect the mecA gene for beta-lactam resistant Staphylococcus aureus. [9]
This means that once a gene for resistance to an antibiotic appears in a microbial community, it can then spread to other microbes in the community, potentially moving from a non-disease causing microbe to a disease-causing microbe. This process is heavily driven by the natural selection processes that happen during antibiotic use or misuse. [28]
In biology, a gene cassette is a type of mobile genetic element that contains a gene and a recombination site. Each cassette usually contains a single gene and tends to be very small; on the order of 500–1,000 base pairs. They may exist incorporated into an integron or freely as circular DNA. [1]
Resistance to antibiotics has come about through overproduction of PBPs and formation of PBPs that have low affinity for penicillins (among other mechanisms such as lactamase production). These experiments change the structure of PBP by adding different amino acids into the protein, allowing for new discovery of how the drug interacts with the ...