{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T06:31:00Z","timestamp":1786516260394,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Methicillin-resistant\n                      <jats:italic>Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (MRSA) poses a serious public health burden in Tibet, where genome-informed epidemiological data remain limited. This study aimed to characterize the molecular epidemiology of MRSA among Tibetans and explore factors associated with its elevated prevalence.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We analyzed 115 non-duplicate MRSA isolates from Tibetans, comprising 51 hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) from clinical infections and 64 community-colonizing MRSA (CA-MRSA). CA-MRSA isolates were obtained from nasal swabs of hospitalized patients within 24 h of admission (to exclude nosocomial acquisition) and from their family members between June and December 2023. All isolates underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based typing [sequence type (ST),\n                      <jats:italic>spa<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>SCCmec<\/jats:italic>\n                      ]. We performed core-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (cgSNP) phylogeny and profiled resistance and virulence determinants.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The MRSA nasal colonization rate was 10.53%. The clone CC59-ST59-SCC\n                      <jats:italic>mec<\/jats:italic>\n                      IV-t437 predominated, accounting for 59.4% of CA-MRSA and 39.2% of HA-MRSA. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a distinct Tibetan MRSA cluster with limited genetic relatedness to strains from other Chinese provinces. cgSNP analysis identified seven CA-MRSA transmission clusters defined by \u226425 cgSNP differences, approximating the \u226425 wgSNP threshold. a finding corroborated by epidemiological links to shared households or hospital exposure. While ST59 conserved core virulence determinants (capsule biosynthesis, iron acquisition), ST22 uniquely harbored the\n                      <jats:italic>egc<\/jats:italic>\n                      cluster and was uniformly positive for the\n                      <jats:italic>lukS-PV\/lukF-PV<\/jats:italic>\n                      loci. No significant virulence differences were observed between HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA within the same ST. All isolates remained susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid, exhibiting concordant resistance profiles across both settings.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      CC59-ST59-SCC\n                      <jats:italic>mec<\/jats:italic>\n                      IV-t437 is the predominant MRSA lineage in Tibet and shows substantial clonal overlap between HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA. These results support the use of whole-genome sequencing to guide empirical therapy and highlight the need for continued surveillance and targeted infection control in this high-burden region.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1889907","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T05:56:30Z","timestamp":1786514190000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["MRSA in Tibet: high prevalence driven by the epidemic clone CC59-ST59-SCCmec IV-t437 and insights from whole-genome analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Wei","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, Children\u2019s Heart Center, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yichuan","family":"Qiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Laboratory, Hospital of Chengdu Office of People\u2019s Government of Xizang Autonomous Region (Hospital.C.X.)","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaodong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Changdu People\u2019s Hospital of Xizang","place":["Changdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinmei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, Children\u2019s Heart Center, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1089\/cmb.2012.0021","article-title":"SPAdes: A new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing.","volume":"19","author":"Bankevich","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. 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