title: Analysis of borderline-resistant strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by drug-susceptibility tests alone poses a serious problem, because a considerable number of clinical S. aureus isolates are borderline resistant to methicillin. To circumvent this problem, we have developed a quick and sensitive method of PCR amplification for the detection of mecA gene, which, coding for PBP2', is the specific genetic element of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This method made it possible to identify MRSA strains in a short time using as few as 30 cells as a starting material for template DNA. Using this method, we found that the strains of borderline methicillin-resistance could be accurately identified. We also found one S. aureus clinical strain, T3, which lacked mecA gene in spite of its resistance to methicillin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kihara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokota
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D015151:Immunoblotting; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009841:Oligonucleotides