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Djursun Karasartova Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

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Zeynep Burcin Cavusoglu Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

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Buse Turegun Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

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Murat T. Ozsan Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

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Fikret Şahin Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

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Bacteriophages play an important role in the pathogenicity of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) either by carrying accessory virulence factors or several superantigens. Despite their importance, there are not many studies showing the actual distribution of the virulence genes carried by the prophages obtained from the clinically isolated Staphylococcus. In this study, we investigated prophages obtained from methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from hospital- and community-associated (HA-CA) infections for the virulence factors. In the study, 43 phages isolated from 48 MRSA were investigated for carrying toxin genes including the sak, eta, lukF-PV, sea, selp, sek, seg, seq chp, and scn virulence genes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot. Restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to analyze phage genomes to investigate the relationship between the phage profiles and the toxin genes’ presence. MRSA strains isolated from HA infections tended to have higher prophage presence than the MRSA strains obtained from the CA infections (97% and 67%, respectively). The study showed that all the phages with the exception of one phage contained one or more virulence genes in their genomes with different combinations. The most common toxin genes found were sea (83%) followed by sek (77%) and seq (64%). The study indicates that prophages encode a significant proportion of MRSA virulence factors.

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Senior editors

Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Dóra Szabó (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)

Managing Editor: Dr. Béla Kocsis (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)

Co-editor: Dr. Andrea Horváth (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)

Editorial Board

  • Prof. Éva ÁDÁM (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. Sebastian AMYES (Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.)
  • Dr. Katalin BURIÁN (Institute of Clinical Microbiology University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.)
  • Dr. Orsolya DOBAY (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. Ildikó Rita DUNAY (Institute of Inflammation and Neurodegeneration, Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany)
  • Prof. Levente EMŐDY(Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.)
  • Prof. Anna ERDEI (Department of Immunology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, MTA-ELTE Immunology Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.)
  • Prof. Éva Mária FENYŐ (Division of Medical Microbiology, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden)
  • Prof. László FODOR (Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. József KÓNYA (Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary)
  • Prof. Yvette MÁNDI (Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary)
  • Prof. Károly MÁRIALIGETI (Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. János MINÁROVITS (Department of Oral Biology and Experimental Dental Research, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary)
  • Prof. Béla NAGY (Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Budapest, Hungary.)
  • Prof. István NÁSZ (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. Kristóf NÉKÁM (Hospital of the Hospitaller Brothers in Buda, Budapest, Hungary.)
  • Dr. Eszter OSTORHÁZI (Institute of Medical Microbiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. Rozália PUSZTAI (Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary)
  • Prof. Peter L. RÁDY (Department of Dermatology, University of Texas, Houston, Texas, USA)
  • Prof. Éva RAJNAVÖLGYI (Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary)
  • Prof. Ferenc ROZGONYI (Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary)
  • Prof. Joseph G. SINKOVICS (The Cancer Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Tampa, Florida, USA)
  • Prof. Júlia SZEKERES (Department of Medical Biology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.)
  • Prof. Mária TAKÁCS (National Reference Laboratory for Viral Zoonoses, National Public Health Center, Budapest, Hungary.)
  • Prof. Edit URBÁN (Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary; Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.)

 

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Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica
Language English
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1954
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Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
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