Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 29, 2026

Multiplex PCR Assay for Typing of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome Mec Types I to V in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: September 5, 2013
Mobile elements drive recombination hotspots in the core genome of Staphylococcus aureus
Richard G Everitt1, Xavier Didelot2, Elizabeth M Batty3
11] Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK [2].
Abstract:
Horizontal gene transfer is an important driver of bacterial evolution, but genetic exchange in the core genome of clonal species, including the major pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, is incompletely understood. Here we reveal widespread homologous recombination in S. aureus at the species level, in contrast to its near-complete absence between closely related strains. We discover a patchwork of hotspots and coldspots at fine scales falling against a backdrop of broad-scale trends in rate variation. Over megabases, homoplasy rates fluctuate 1.9-fold, peaking towards the origin-of-replication. Over kilobases, we find core recombination hotspots of up to 2.5-fold enrichment situated near fault lines in the genome associated with mobile elements. The strongest hotspots include regions flanking conjugative transposon ICE6013, the staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) and genomic island νSaα. Mobile element-driven core genome transfer represents an opportunity for adaptation and challenges our understanding of the recombination landscape in predominantly clonal pathogens, with important implications for genotype-phenotype mapping.
Related Concept Videos
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Viral Recombination
Mechanism of Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA
Evolution of Microbial Genome
Transposons

