Noor-ul Ain, Saba Riaz, Samyyia Abrar, Munir Ahmad, Zaeema Khan, Saleha Hafiz, Shahida Hussain, Muhammad Hayat Haider.
Horizontal Gene Transfer and Antibacterial Effect of Allium sativum (GARLIC) on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;13(2):186-90.

Objective: To evaluate the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance and antibacterial effect of Allium sativum on MRSA isolates from a tertiary care hospital, Lahore. Place and Duration: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab, Lahore from January 2016 to July 2016. Methodology: 310 MRSA isolates were processed for antibiotic susceptibility testing by using Disc Diffusion Assay. Using plasmid isolation and plasmid transfer conjugation experiments horizontal gene transfer by conjugation was studied. Competent MSSA cultures were transformed using MRSA donor DNA. Agar well diffusion assay and the effect of SDS, high temperature and Proteinase k on antibacterial activity of crude garlic extract was determined. Results: The MRSA strains were resistant to oxacillin, penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephradine, cefuroxime, ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, erythromycin, fusidic acid, and cotrimoxazole. Almost all stains were susceptible to vancomycin. Most strains were susceptible to ceftriaxone, novobiocin, teicoplanin, and tazobactam. Plasmids ranging in size from 25kb to 42kb were observed in selected strains. Conjugation and transformation assays showed acquisition of multidrug resistance in MSSA. Crude extracts of garlic demonstrated potent antibacterial activity against selected MRSA strains. Treatment of crude garlic extracts with physical and chemical agents (SDS, heat, Proteinase k) almost totally abolished the antibacterial activity. Conclusion: Here, we observed the horizontal gene transfer of multidrug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and began to study the antibacterial activity of garlic against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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