Fitness Cost of SCC <i>mec</i> and Methicillin Resistance Levels in <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>

Abstract

Transformation of a type I SCCmec element into Staphylococcus aureus yielded highly oxacillin-resistant transformants with a reduced growth rate. Faster-growing variants could again be selected at the cost of reduced resistance levels, demonstrating an inverse correlation between oxacillin resistance levels and growth rate.