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Updated: May 2, 2026

Methodology for the Study of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: March 10, 2017
Intragenus generalized transduction in Staphylococcus spp. by a novel giant phage
Jumpei Uchiyama1, Iyo Takemura-Uchiyama2, Yoshihiko Sakaguchi3
11] Department of Microbiology and Infection, Faculty of Medicine, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan [2] Center for Innovative and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan.
Abstract:
Bacteriophage (phage)-mediated generalized transduction is expected to contribute to the emergence of drug-resistant staphylococcal clones in various environments. In this study, novel phage S6 was isolated from sewage and used to test generalized transduction in human- and animal-derived staphylococci. Phage S6 was a novel type of giant myophage, which possessed a DNA genome that contained uracil instead of thymine, and it could infect all of the tested staphylococcal species. The phage S6 appeared to be similar to the transducing phage PBS1, which infects Bacillus spp. Moreover, phage S6 facilitated the transduction of a plasmid in Staphylococcus aureus and from S. aureus to non-aureus staphylococcal species, as well as vice versa. Transduction of methicillin resistance also occurred in S. aureus. This is the first report of successful intragenus generalized transduction among staphylococci.
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