Linezolid resistance : emergence of the cfrB gene in French clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains

Two MRSA strains isolated from cystic fibrosis patients were addressed for exploration of their linezolid resistance phenotypes. Whole-genome sequencing analysis indicated that they belonged to two different ST, but both harbored the cfrB gene on a same 9.7-kb transposon described so far only in E. faecium and Clostridioides sp.. These first descriptions in S. aureus illustrate the risk of dispersal of oxazolidinone resistance via horizontal inter-genus gene transfer and highlight the need to monitor their emergence in this species.