The Genes and Mutations of Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

The purpose of this project is to study the evolution of the bacteria, meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We will study and evaluate a few of the genes and mutations of MRSA that enable it to be resistant to many antibiotics and antimicrobial agents. Visual and image processing will be used to create data charts, graphs and plots to better conceive the results of the research. Introduction The purpose of this project is to study the evolution of the bacteria, meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Staphylococcus aureus (s. aureus) was discovered in 1880 by the Scottish surgeon Sir Alexander Ogston. Hundreds of thousands of people contract this disease every year with many cases being fatal. The mortality rate of s. aureus in a Boston hospital in 1941 was 82%. Then in 1943 penicillin was introduced and used as a defense system against staphylococcus aureus [1]. However, when bacteria encounter an antibiotic or antimicrobial agent some of the bacteria may survive. The bacteria can transmute so those bacteria that survive can become resistant to the antibiotic. The surviving antibiotic-resistant bacteria can then multiply and infect someone new. In this way, some types of staphylococcal aureus bacteria have become resistant to many antibiotics. By 1960, 80% of staphylococcus aureus strains had grown a resistance to penicillin. Then a stronger antibiotic (meticillin) was created [2]. Meticillin, originally celbenine, was the first mechanism-based antimicrobial agent. It is a semi-synthetic imitation of penicillin that was chemically modified to stand the destructive action that s. aureus had adapted to fight off penicillin. The drug was introduced into therapy in Europe in 1959–1960. Only a year after its introduction, s. aureus had become resistant to meticillin. As a human pathogen, s. aureus is surpassed by no other [3]. Due to its sheer ability to survive, multiply and adapt in many hostile environments, as well as its “versatility of pathogenic strategies and number of virulence factors” [3] s. aureus has been able to remain prevalent. MRSA has been rampant around the world. With its resistance to most antibiotics and antimicrobial agents, MRSA’s prevalence in large US hospitals had risen from 4% in the 1980’s to 50% in the late 1990’s. The connection between the increasing numbers of meticillin resistant strains and the decreasing number of meticillin susceptible strains can be seen in Figure 1 and 2. Number of Orginal sites vs. Date strain was discovered