Molecular genotyping of Staphylococcus aureus strains: comparison of repetitive element sequence-based PCR with various typing methods and isolation of a novel epidemicity marker.
Repetitive sequence-based (Rep)-PCR genotyping as described here is based on the presence of homologues of Mycoplasma pneumoniae repeat-like elements in Staphylococcus. In this study we comparatively evaluated the usefulness of rep-PCR typing with two sets of well-defined collections of Staphylococcus aureus strains. Rep-PCR analysis of the first collection of S. aureus strains (n = 59) and one Staphylococcus intermedius strain showed 14 different rep-PCR patterns, with each pattern harboring 6 to 15 DNA fragments. The discriminatory power of rep-PCR typing compared well to those of arbitrarily primed PCR (average of 20 types) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (11 types). S. aureus strain collection I comprised four outbreak-related groups of isolates. The isolates in only one group were found to have identical rep-PCR profiles. However, in an analysis of isolates from three additional independent local outbreaks (n for outbreaks 1 and 2 = 5, n for outbreak 3 = 12), identical rep-PCR types were found among strains isolated during each outbreak. Therefore, we conclude that rep-PCR genotyping may be an easy and fast method for monitoring of the epidemiology of nosocomial Staphylococcus infections. Rep-PCR analysis of strain collection II, which consisted of epidemic and nonepidemic methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, revealed that a cluster of similar rep-PCR profiles was found among MRSA isolates which were more frequently isolated and which were most often associated with outbreaks.
van der Zee
A
A
Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, St. Elisabeth Hospital, 5000 AS Tilburg, The Netherlands. lab.med.microbiol@inter.NL.net
Verbakel
H
H
van Zon
J C
JC
Frenay
I
I
van Belkum
A
A
Peeters
M
M
Buiting
A
A
Bergmans
A
A
D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
D004269:DNA, Bacterial