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PubMed1997

Serratia marcescens.

Over the last 30 years, Serratia marcescens has become an important cause of nosocomial infection. There have been many reports concerning the identification, antibiotic susceptibility, pathogenicity, epidemiological investigations and typing of this organism. Accurate identification is important in defining outbreaks. The API 20E system has been used widely, but is not individually satisfactory. The growth of S. marcescens in the environment has been investigated in relation to water, disinfectants and plastics such as blood bags. Certain extracellular products are unique to S. marcescens. Pigment (prodigiosin) biosynthesis by S. marcescens has been investigated fully since the emergence of the organism as a cause of infection. Many other aspects of the pathogenicity and virulence of S. marcescens have been studied, including adherence and hydrophobicity, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and extracellular products. Two modes of adhesion to host epithelial surfaces have been suggested. These are mannose-resistant (MR) pili and mannose-sensitive (MS) pili. LPS, which is responsible for the biological activity of endotoxin, has been investigated fully and 24 somatic antigens have been described. The production of different enzymes by S. marcescens as virulence factors has also been reported, including chitinase, lipase, chloroperoxidase and an extracellular protein, HasA. Antibiotics used to treat serratia infection include beta-lactam agents, aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones and a variety of different resistance mechanisms have been demonstrated. Typing methods used to study the epidemiology of S. marcescens include biotyping, bacteriocin typing, phage typing, plasmid analysis, polymerase chain reaction amplification of enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequences (ERIC-PCR) and ribotyping. Serological typing has also been used and this method seems to be a suitable first-line typing method for S. marcescens, although some strains remain untypable. RAPD-PCR has also been applied to a small number of isolates and seems to be a promising method, especially for rapid monitoring of an outbreak and tracing the source of initial infection.

Aminoglycosides↗
PubMed1994

Outbreak of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Serratia marcescens in an intensive care unit.

Serratia marcescens has recently been identified as an important etiological agent in nosocomial infections, and is considered to be an opportunistic pathogen agent in immunosuppressed patients undergoing long periods of intensive care. Research carried out in 1991 and 1992 showed that it was of epidemiological relevance in only 1-2% of clinical isolates at the Ospedale di Circolo, Varese, Italy. However, between 7 February and 11 October 1993, the incidence of cases attributable to S. marcescens had increased to 5%; 157 strains of Serratia marcescens were isolated from clinical specimens of 43 patients admitted to an intensive care unit; these strains, characterized by epidemic spread, showed the same pattern of multiresistance to antibiotics including monobactams and oxyimino-cephalosporins. During the same period 23 isolates were also recovered from 18 patients admitted to wards other than the intensive care unit; these strains, characterized by a wide range of antibiotic susceptibility, were also sensitive to beta-lactam antibiotics with the exception of first generation cephalosporins. The production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ES beta Ls) and their genetic determinism were studied. All the epidemic strains of S. marcescens resistant to ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone and aztreonam produced three different beta-lactamases with pI 5.4, 5.5 and 8.4 respectively. In contrast, non-epidemic strains produced only a beta-lactamase with pI 8.4. The beta-lactamase with pI 5.5 was plasmid-mediated, hydrolizing ceftazidime and aztreonam, showing it to be an ES beta L; while the beta-lactamase with pI 5.4, although plasmid-mediated, did not hydrolize monobactams or oxyimino-cephalosporins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2006

[Septic shock induced by Serratia marcescens complicating adult T-cell leukemia (ATL)].

A 75-year-old woman was admitted with fever of unknown origin and liver damage, and treated with prednisolone. Hypercalcemia appeared when of the dose of prednisolone was reduced, and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) proviral DNA was detected in the leukemic cells by Southern blot analysis, and a diagnosis of acute adult T-cell lymphoma (ATL) was made. After chemotherapy with sobuzoxane was started, she went into septic shock caused by multiple resistant Serratia marcesense, and was treated with PMX-DHP and antibiotics. Although ner general condition and her serum cytokine leyels improved, the septic shock became more severe, and the patient died. Serratia marcesense expreses lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a biologically active substance that is present in gram-negative bacteria. Exposure to LPS leads to activation of cytokines, including TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and IFN-gamma. After treatment with PMX-DHP, the patient's general condition improved, but she died of septic shock. Bacterial infection may be a life-threatening complication in the immunocompromised hosts and elderly patients, particularly when granulocytopenia has been induced by chemotherapy, and thus such these patients require careful management.

Aged↗
PubMed1974

Distribution of Serratia species in clinical specimens.

Eighty-five strains of Serratia were speciated. The majority were Serratia marcescens and were recovered from a variety of clinical specimens. S. liquefaciens and S. rubidaea were recovered only from sputum.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1962

Selection of thermostable Serratia marcescens from logarithmic-phase cultures as a means for inducing synchronous growth.

Hess, George E. (U. S. Army Chemical Corps, Fort Detrick, Maryland) and Milton Shon. Selection of thermostable Serratia marcescens from logarithmic-phase cultures as a means for inducing synchronous growth. J. Bacteriol. 83:781-784. 1962.-A relatively thermostable, apparently nonmultiplying, population of Serratia marcescens was found in cultures in the exponential phase of growth. Thermal treatment of the whole culture resulted in the death of the multiplying cell fraction, although the nonmultiplying fraction remained viable. Subcultivation of the thermally treated suspensions yielded cultures in which most of the viable organisms multiplied synchronously for at least two generations.

Serratia marcescens↗
PubMed1962

Survival of Serratia marcescens after freeze-drying or aerosolization at unfavorable humidity. I. Effects of sugars.

Zimmerman, Leonard (U.S. Army Biological Laboratories, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.). Survival of Serratia marcescens after freeze-drying or aerosolization at unfavorable humidity. I. Effects of sugars. J. Bacteriol. 84:1297-1302. 1962.-Suspensions of Serratia marcescens were subjected to freeze-drying or to aerosolization at unfavorable humidity levels. The survival of the cells during one or the other of these treatments was markedly improved in the presence of common sugars, but no one sugar stabilized the cells against both stresses. The protective effects of the sugars were correlated with their penetrability into cells; minimally penetrable sugars stabilized cells against aerosolization, and freely penetrable sugars stabilized cells during freeze-drying. These results were attributed to the modifications of intracellular water content induced by the presence of the sugars in the cell suspensions.

Carbohydrates↗
PubMed1963

Relation of structure to function in bacterial O antigens. II. Fractionation of lipids present in Boivin-type endotoxin of Serratia marcescens.

Nowotny, Alois (City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, Calif.). Relation of structure to function in bacterial O antigens. II. Fractionation of lipids present in Boivin-type endotoxin of Serratia marcescens. J. Bacteriol. 85:427-435, 1963.-Methods for liberation of lipids from their endotoxic O antigen were investigated. In the case of endotoxin isolated from a chromogenic Serratia marcescens, best results were obtained with diluted formic acid. The crude lipid mixture consisted of at least 16 different components, which were analyzed by paper chromatography. Good separation was achieved by silicic acid-impregnated paper. Lipids were stained with metachromatic o-toluidine blue. Solubility of the crude lipid mixture was studied in different organic solvents. Preparative fractionation was developed utilizing various organic solvents on the basis of solubility differences of the lipid components. Pure fractions were obtained by silicic acid column chromatography. Since none of the lipid liberation methods so far developed can produce undegraded lipids free from split products and remnants of cell-wall polysaccharides, their usefulness is limited in comparing the chemical structure of the liberated lipid with that of the lipid intact in the cell wall. The liberation procedures cause changes within the lipid structure itself, which in turn would alter whatever potential ability it might have to elicit certain biological reactions.

Antigens↗
PubMed1963

RESPIRATORY INHIBITOR FROM SERRATIA MARCESCENS.

Neufeld, Harold A. (U.S. Army Biological Laboratories, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.), Ronald L. Coleman, and Joseph S. Zannucci. Respiratory inhibitor from Serratia marcescens. J. Bacteriol. 85:614-618. 1963.-A substance was obtained from Serratia marcescens in conjunction with lipopolysaccharide that is a potent inhibitor of mammalian succinoxidase activity. It was determined that the purified lipopolysaccharide is not an in vitro inhibitor of the succinoxidase system. The inhibitor has no effect on succinic dehydrogenase or cytochrome oxidase but apparently exerts its effect on some portion of the electron-transport chain between the dehydrogenase and cytochrome c.

Animals↗
PubMed1963

RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND THE KILLING OF BACTERIA: THE SURVIVAL OF SERRATIA MARCESCENS DEHYDRATED BY CONCENTRATED GLYCEROL AND SUCROSE SOLUTIONS.

Bateman, J. B. (U.S. Army Biological Laboratories, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.) and F. Elizabeth White. Effect of relative humidity on the survival of Serratia marcescens in concentrated glycerol and sucrose solutions. J. Bacteriol. 85:918-926. 1963.-The effects of sucrose and glycerol upon the ability of Serratia marcescens to grow when restored to a normal medium after exposure to solutions of these substances were examined, with special attention to the prevailing thermodynamic activity of water in these solutions as a factor of supposed primary importance in influencing survival or death of cells. The data were notable for the absence of any zones of instability such as those found when the water activity is changed by exposure of washed cells to water vapor at controlled relative humidities (RH). The cells survived indefinitely at room temperature in concentrated sucrose solutions; in glycerol solutions of equilibrium RH values from 20 to 90, the first-order decay constants were about 0.03 to 0.1 hr(-1). These results, considered together with the contrasting phenomenon of narrow lethal humidity zones found in vapor-phrase equilibration experiments, were explained generally in terms of competitive interactions involving concentrated intrinsic and adventitious solutes, the cell water, and the organized structures of the cell, whose integrity was considered to depend ultimately upon the net effect of these various interactions.

Dehydration↗
PubMed1963

EFFECT OF PH ON THE FORMATION OF EXOCELLULAR NUCLEASE IN AGING BROTH CULTURES OF SERRATIA MARCESCENS.

Eaves, George N. (Wayne State University College of Medicine, Detroit, Mich.) and Charles D. Jeffries. Effect of pH on the formation of exocellular nuclease in aging broth cultures of Serratia marcescens. J. Bacteriol. 85:1194-1196. 1963.-The formation of exocellular nuclease by Serratia marcescens occurred in the stationary phase of growth and was not associated with cell multiplication. An increase in specific enzymatic activity until the phase of autolysis suggested the selective secretion of the exocellular nuclease. The amount of enzyme accumulated was dependent upon the final pH attained by the culture medium, which was, in turn, related to the initial pH of the medium. The production of this nuclease was greatly favored by an alkaline pH.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1963

L FORMS ISOLATED FROM A STRAIN OF SERRATIA.

Bandur, Bojana M. (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston) and Louis Dienes. L forms isolated from a strain of Serratia. J. Bacteriol. 86:829-836. 1963.-In an L culture isolated from a strain of Serratia, two types of colonies developed, one (S-1) similar to the usual L colonies with the centers embedded in the agar and the other (S-2) similar in gross appearance to the usual bacterial colonies. The S-2 colonies consisted almost exclusively of large bodies and were produced by the direct multiplication of the large bodies. This occurred by enlargement, deformation, and segmentation. The organisms in the two types of L colonies were equivalent, and the type of growth was determined by environmental influences. The high viability of the cultures and the relative lack of autolysis permitted the study of the reproductive processes and the resulting growth under varying conditions. The basic reproductive process, as in other L forms and pleuropneumonia-like organisms, seemed to be the multiplication of small granules, either free or in small or large aggregates enclosed in a common envelope. It was possible to observe clearly the growth of small granules from the large bodies.

Agar↗
PubMed1963

ORIGIN OF PROTOTROPHIC VARIANTS IN MIXTURES OF AUXOTROPHIC MUTANTS OF SERRATIA MARCESCENS.

Dushman, Mariam B. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge). Origin of prototrophic variants in mixtures of auxotrophic mutants of Serratia marcescens. J. Bacteriol. 86:1173-1181. 1963.-The mechanism whereby mixed cultures of Serratia marcescens auxotrophs gave rise to prototrophs was shown not to be a genetic exchange by mating, since cell-to-cell contact was not required for the formation of new types. New types arose when the two "parental" strains were not mixed; they were kept separate by means of a Millipore membrane filter. In mixed cultures on media selective for new cell types, these new types arose as a result of reversions in one strain, the apparent recipient, during residual growth promoted by materials excreted by the other strain, the apparent donor or "feeder." Strains bearing one reverting and one nonreverting marker gave rise only to those types that could be accounted for by reversion. Ultraviolet irradiation of the feeder strain increased the frequency of formation of new types; streptomycin treatment of a streptomycin-sensitive feeder, even starting several hours after the onset of mixed cultivation, prevented the formation of apparent recombinants.

Adenine↗
PubMed1965

RHYTHMIC RESPONSE OF SERRATIA MARCESCENS TO ELEVATED TEMPERATURE.

Dimmick, Robert L. (University of California, Berkeley). Rhythmic response of Serratia marcescens to elevated temperature. J. Bacteriol. 89:791-798. 1965.-Populations of Serratia marcescens of varied ages and pretreatments, which had been grown in a chemically defined medium, were subjected to thermal stress at 50 to 56 C. The numbers of survivors were plotted vs. time to form survivor curves, and the curves were assembled to form three-dimensional models. The manner in which survivors varied as a function of age and time of heating was variable and often rhythmic. Different three-dimensional patterns were found when different inoculum for the test culture was used. Apparently some "dead" cells again produced colonies after extended heating periods (recuperation); this tendency varied with the age of the culture. Diminutive colony forms, which produced normal colonies upon transfer, appeared and disappeared during heating; this tendency fluctuated with age. It is suggested that survivor curves represent a distribution of resistant forms within the population, and that this distribution varies in a manner best described in terms of servomechanistic response within each cell and within a given culture. Difficulties of attempting to relate changes in specific molecular species to subsequent whole-cell responses are discussed.

Hot Temperature↗
PubMed1993

Growth and survival of Serratia marcescens under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the presence of materials from blood bags.

Several patients receiving blood transfusions during the summer of 1991 developed bacteremia after the transfusion. In all cases, the infection was caused by Serratia marcescens. The same strain of Serratia marcescens was isolated from the patients and from the outer surface of unfilled blood bags. The transport containers for the blood bags were made anoxic by using a catalyst in order to prevent microbial growth. The survival and growth of S. marcescens K202, which was isolated from the blood bags, was studied at different oxygen concentrations in deionized water containing materials derived from the blood bags. The rate of survival and growth of S. marcescens was highest under anaerobic conditions, in which growth occurred with all materials and even in deionized water alone. In contrast, S. marcescens did not survive in control cultures under semi-anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Growth was observed, however, under both aerobic and semi-anaerobic conditions in the presence of each of the tested blood bag materials. These findings indicate that the conditions in the transport containers for the blood bags were favorable for the survival and growth of S. marcescens.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed2025

Emergence of carbapenem-resistant Serratia marcescens co-harboring blaNDM-1, blaKPC-2, and blaSRT-2 in bloodstream infection.

Serratia marcescens is an emerging opportunistic pathogen with high genetic diversity. The emergence and prevalence of carbapenem-resistant S. marcescens poses a major health threat due to its intrinsic resistance to multiple antibiotics, which severely restricts the selection and treatment of antibiotics for S. marcescens infection. This study presents the first documented case in China of a bloodstream infection caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. marcescens strain (designated S96) co-producing blaNDM-1, blaKPC-2, and blaSRT-2. Strain S96 exhibited resistance to nearly all categories of β-lactam antimicrobials, β-lactam/inhibitor combinations, aminoglycosides, quinolones, and other clinical antibacterial agents, with the exception of tigecycline. Our main objective was to characterize the genetic mechanisms underlying its carbapenem resistance and plasmid transfer potential. Whole-genome sequencing revealed blaKPC-2 on a 44,047 bp "IncX6-like" plasmid and blaNDM-1 on a 100,081 bp IncFII(Yp)-type plasmid, alongside chromosomal blaSRT-2 and aac(6')-Ic. "IncX6-like" and IncFII(Yp)-type plasmids are widely distributed among carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains globally. Conjugation experiments demonstrated that the blaNDM-1-carrying plasmid could be successfully transferred to recipient Escherichia coli 600, with no significant fitness cost observed (P > 0.05). The experimental results demonstrate that carbapenem-resistant genes can disseminate among Enterobacteriaceae via plasmid-mediated horizontal transfer between bacterial cells. Comparative genomic analysis revealed plasmid structural homology with global counterparts, demonstrating IS-mediated recombination and horizontal gene transfer. The low adaptive cost of plasmid carriage and multidrug resistance phenotype pose significant challenges for clinical management. This study highlights the need for enhanced clinical surveillance and antibiotic stewardship to curb the spread of such multidrug-resistant pathogens.IMPORTANCECarbapenem resistance in Serratia marcescens is primarily mediated by Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), with New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) being a relatively uncommon alternative resistance mechanism. KPC-2 and NDM-1 coexisting in S. marcescens is extremely rare clinically. This study reports the first clinical isolate of S. marcescens in China co-harboring blaNDM-1, blaKPC-2, and blaSRT-2. The isolate exhibits multidrug resistance to nearly all β-lactam antibiotics and β-lactam/inhibitor combinations, with low adaptive costs and high dissemination potential. The potential spread of resistance genes through mobile genetic elements poses a serious public health risk. The study underscores the need for enhanced surveillance, rational antibiotic use, and novel strategies to combat resistance. It also provides insights into the evolutionary mechanisms of bacterial resistance, emphasizing the urgent need for interventions to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Humans↗
PubMed1962

Cross-infection with Serratia marcescens.

Cross-infection in a urological unit due to Serratia marcescens is reported. The bacteriology of the organism and its mode of spread are described. It is suggested that Serratia marcescens may be a more virulent organism than is generally believed, especially in situations in which there is an excess of mucus.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2006

Virulence factors and resistance mechanisms of Serratia marcescens. A short review.

Serratia marcescens, a Gram-negative bacillus that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, is a human opportunistic pathogen bacterium that causes many diseases, such as urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, bacteremia, conjunctivitis, endocarditis, meningitis and wound infections. Many plasmides that confers multi-drug resistance were discovered, such as virulence factors, like cytotoxins that damage epithelial cells. The main topic of this paper presents a review about the molecular traits evolved in the pathogenic processes mediated by Serratia and its mechanism of resistance to drugs.

Anti-Infective Agents↗
PubMed1975

Serratia arthritis in heroin users.

Septic arthritis due to Serratia species was seen in four users of intravenous heroin. In all cases, the organism was cultured from joint aspirates. Both the clinical presentation and the involvement of the sacro-iliac and knee joints were notably similar to the Pseudomonas septic arthritis encountered in other heroin users. All four patients responded satisfactorily to therapy although one had a residual flexion contracture of the knee. Twelve previously reported cases of Serratia arthritis are reviewed.

Adult↗