{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:31:20Z","timestamp":1787027480518,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]],"date-time":"2024-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1719878400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009104","name":"Department of Health Research, Govt. of India, New Delhi","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R.11013\/57\/2021-GIA\/HR"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R.11013\/57\/2021-GIA\/HR"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009104","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pathogens and their spillover into the environment have become a global public health menace. Insects can acquire these pathogens from the environment and would serve as mechanical and biological vectors. The current study assessed the ability of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to acquire methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) through the exposure of the mosquitoes to the pathogen via rearing water, blood feed, or a feeding membrane under laboratory conditions. In addition, mosquito immatures collected from their habitat in the vicinity of hospitals, veterinary dispensaries, and butcher shops at 15 study sites in Puducherry were screened for MRSA infection. All samples were subjected to the culture-based isolation of S. aureus from the surface and homogenate. The presence of the S. aureus-specific nuc gene and the genes that confer resistance to methicillin (mecA and mecC) were screened using PCR tests. MRSA was not evident either on the external surface or in the homogenate of the mosquitoes emerging from the larvae reared in the MRSA-spiked water or those fed with MRSA through blood or smeared membranes. Furthermore, the presence of MRSA was not evident in any of the field-caught mosquitoes. Hence, we conclude that C. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes are impervious to MRSA colonization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics13070618","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,3]],"date-time":"2024-07-03T04:23:43Z","timestamp":1719980623000},"page":"618","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Culex quinquefasciatus Mosquitoes Resist Acquisition of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Insights from Field and Laboratory Studies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Waseema","family":"Arif","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of One Health, ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry 605006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gowdham","family":"Thangaraj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health Entomology, ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry 605006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pushpa","family":"Srinivasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of One Health, ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry 605006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2229-3716","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Srikanth","family":"Srirama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of One Health, ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry 605006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0638-9590","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Panneer","family":"Devaraju","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of One Health, ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry 605006, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1002184","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1002184","article-title":"Will 10 Million People Die a Year Due to Antimicrobial Resistance by 2050?","volume":"13","author":"Stewardson","year":"2016","journal-title":"PLoS Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-021-00649-x","article-title":"Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment","volume":"20","author":"Larsson","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gwenzi, W., Chaukura, N., Muisa-Zikali, N., Teta, C., Musvuugwa, T., Rzymski, P., and Abia, A.L.K. (2021). Insects, Rodents, and Pets as Reservoirs, Vectors, and Sentinels of Antimicrobial Resistance. Antibiotics, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics10010068"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"735","DOI":"10.2147\/IDR.S345574","article-title":"Clinical Perspective of Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria","volume":"15","author":"Zhu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Infect. Drug Resist."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"742","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(14)70780-7","article-title":"Global Antibiotic Consumption 2000 to 2010: An Analysis of National Pharmaceutical Sales Data","volume":"14","author":"Gandra","year":"2014","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"AMR Surveillance Network, and Indian Council of Medical Research (2021). Annual Report: 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Salam, M.A., Al-Amin, M.Y., Salam, M.T., Pawar, J.S., Akhter, N., Rabaan, A.A., and Alqumber, M.A.A. (2023). Antimicrobial Resistance: A Growing Serious Threat for Global Public Health. Healthcare, 11.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202305.0555.v1"},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Foster, T. (1996). Medical Microbiology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. [4th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-018-0147-4","article-title":"Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: An Overview of Basic and Clinical Research","volume":"17","author":"Turner","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nandhini, P., Kumar, P., Mickymaray, S., Alothaim, A.S., Somasundaram, J., and Rajan, M. (2022). Recent Developments in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Treatment: A Review. Antibiotics, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics11050606"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mib.2020.02.005","article-title":"Staphylococcus Aureus Bloodstream Infections: Pathogenesis and Regulatory Mechanisms","volume":"53","author":"Kwiecinski","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1419","DOI":"10.20546\/ijcmas.2017.612.159","article-title":"Prevalence and Antibiogram of MRSA Isolated from Patient Samples and Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Puducherry, India","volume":"6","author":"Pramodhini","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"426","DOI":"10.1080\/20477724.2020.1824112","article-title":"Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and Public Fomites: A Review","volume":"114","author":"Jaradat","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pathog. Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1186\/1297-9716-45-31","article-title":"Molecular Epidemiology of Environmental MRSA at an Equine Teaching Hospital: Introduction, Circulation and Maintenance","volume":"45","author":"Mowery","year":"2014","journal-title":"Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmii.2021.03.020","article-title":"The Trend of Environmental and Clinical Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus in a Hospital in Taiwan: Impact of USA300","volume":"55","author":"Yu","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Microbiol. Immunol. Infect."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1244","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2672.2009.04515.x","article-title":"Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in Municipal Wastewater: An Uncharted Threat?","volume":"108","author":"Matussek","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Appl. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1186\/s12917-019-2012-8","article-title":"Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus among Urban Rodents, House Shrews, and Patients in Guangzhou, Southern China","volume":"15","author":"Ge","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMC Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0278912","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0278912","article-title":"Internal and External Microbiota of Home-Caught Anopheles Coluzzii (Diptera: Culicidae) from C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Africa: Mosquitoes Are Filthy","volume":"17","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3527","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-83228-7","article-title":"Livestock-Associated MRSA Survival on House Flies (Musca domestica) and Stable Flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) after Removal from a Danish Pig Farm","volume":"11","author":"Stelder","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1186\/s13756-019-0505-7","article-title":"Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance in the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Strains Isolated from Hospital Cockroaches","volume":"8","author":"Abdolmaleki","year":"2019","journal-title":"Antimicrob. Resist. Infect. Control"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1132","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1706101978","article-title":"Bedbugs as Vectors for Drug-Resistant Bacteria","volume":"17","author":"Lowe","year":"2011","journal-title":"Emerg. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1039","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-0691.2006.01522.x","article-title":"Evaluation of the CLSI Cefoxitin 30-\u039cg Disk-Diffusion Method for Detecting Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococci","volume":"12","author":"Zhu","year":"2006","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Infect."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1551","DOI":"10.1289\/ehp.1205436","article-title":"Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Detected at Four US Wastewater Treatment Plants","volume":"120","author":"Goldstein","year":"2012","journal-title":"Environ. Health Perspect."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4134","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-014-4134-6","article-title":"Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant, Coagulase-Positive Staphylococcus Aureus in Nasal Carriage, Food, Wastewater and Paper Currency in Jalandhar City (North-Western), an Indian State of Punjab","volume":"187","author":"Kumar","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Monit. Assess."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7217","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.71.11.7217-7223.2005","article-title":"16S rRNA Gene-Based Identification of Midgut Bacteria from Field-Caught Anopheles Gambiae Sensu Lato and A. Funestus Mosquitoes Reveals New Species Related to Known Insect Symbionts","volume":"71","author":"Lindh","year":"2005","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Weinstein, M.P. (2020). Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Supplement M100, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. [30th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"4997","article-title":"Guidelines for Reporting Novel mecA Gene Homologues. Ito T, International Working Group on the Classification of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome Elements (IWG-SCC)","volume":"56","author":"Hiramatsu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Antimicrob. Agents Chemother."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Azuma, T., Murakami, M., Sonoda, Y., Ozaki, A., and Hayashi, T. (2022). Occurrence and Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in a Sub-Catchment of the Yodo River Basin, Japan. Antibiotics, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics11101355"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eaah4680","DOI":"10.1126\/scitranslmed.aah4680","article-title":"Antimicrobials from Human Skin Commensal Bacteria Protect against Staphylococcus aureus and Are Deficient in Atopic Dermatitis","volume":"9","author":"Nakatsuji","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Transl. Med."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/jiad302","article-title":"Experimental Acquisition, Maintenance, and Transmission of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus by the Common Bed Bug, Cimex Lectularius","volume":"229","author":"Herrera","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.4038\/jnsfsr.v24i1.5537","article-title":"Keys for the Identification of the Immature Stages of Genus Culex (Diptera: Culicidae) in Sri Lanka","volume":"24","author":"Amerasinghe","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Natn. Sci. Found. Sri Lanka"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Foster, W.A., and Walker, E.D. (2019). Mosquitoes (Culicidae). Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Elsevier.","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-814043-7.00015-7"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100759","DOI":"10.1016\/j.onehlt.2024.100759","article-title":"Synanthropic Rodents and Shrews Are Reservoirs of Zoonotic Bacterial Pathogens and Act as Sentinels for Antimicrobial Resistance Spillover in the Environment: A Study from Puducherry, India","volume":"17","author":"Devanathan","year":"2024","journal-title":"One Health"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"962","DOI":"10.1603\/0022-2585(2006)43[962:CHSANL]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Common House Spiders Are Not Likely Vectors of Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections","volume":"43","author":"Baxtrom","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Med. Entomol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, Z., Yong, H., Zhang, S., Liu, Z., and Zhao, Y. (2023). Colonization Resistance of Symbionts in Their Insect Hosts. Insects, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/insects14070594"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cois.2014.07.002","article-title":"Mosquito Hemocyte-Mediated Immune Responses","volume":"3","author":"Hillyer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Insect Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kumar, A., Srivastava, P., Sirisena, P., Dubey, S.K., Kumar, R., Shrinet, J., and Sunil, S. (2018). Mosquito Innate Immunity. Insects, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/insects9030095"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2727","DOI":"10.1111\/mec.12771","article-title":"Mosquitoes Rely on Their Gut Microbiota for Development","volume":"23","author":"Coon","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mol. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00059-12","article-title":"Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence: A Successful or Deleterious Association in the Bacterial World?","volume":"26","author":"Beceiro","year":"2013","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1697","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-51634-2","article-title":"Larvicidal Potential, Antimicrobial Properties and Molecular Docking Analysis of Egyptian Mint (Mentha rotundifolia) against Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) and Midgut-Borne Staphylococcus aureus","volume":"14","author":"Hemdan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.1128\/CVI.00270-07","article-title":"Preparation of Bacterial DNA Template by Boiling and Effect of Immunoglobulin G as an Inhibitor in Real-Time PCR for Serum Samples from Patients with Brucellosis","volume":"15","author":"Macias","year":"2008","journal-title":"Clin. Vaccine Immunol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1654","DOI":"10.1128\/jcm.30.7.1654-1660.1992","article-title":"Detection of Staphylococcus Aureus by Polymerase Chain Reaction Amplification of the Nuc Gene","volume":"30","author":"Brakstad","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Clin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"1","article-title":"Development and Validation of Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for Concomitant Detection of Genus Staphylococcus and Clinically Relevant Methicillin Resistance Determinants","volume":"8","author":"Venugopal","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Appl. Biol. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1870","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/msw054","article-title":"MEGA7: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 7.0 for Bigger Datasets","volume":"33","author":"Kumar","year":"2016","journal-title":"Mol. Biol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Blaize, J.F. (2024). Serial Dilutions and Plating: Microbial Enumeration, MyJoVE Corporation.","DOI":"10.3791\/10507"}],"container-title":["Antibiotics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6382\/13\/7\/618\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T15:09:24Z","timestamp":1760108964000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6382\/13\/7\/618"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]]},"references-count":45,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7]]}},"alternative-id":["antibiotics13070618"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/antibiotics13070618","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-6382"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-6382","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]]}}}