Genomic characterization of a vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) small colony variant after long-term antibiotic therapy

Key Points

• To investigate the genomic features of a vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus small colony variant following prolonged antibiotic therapy.
• Genomic sequencing of the small colony variant strain
• Analysis of metabolic and regulatory gene alterations
• Comparison with canonical metabolic defect profiles
• Identified widespread alterations in regulatory and surface genes
• Demonstrated that SCVs are heterogeneous adaptive phenotypes
• Observed lack of specific metabolic deficiencies characteristic of typical small colony variants

Abstract