title: Evolution of slime production by coagulase-negative staphylococci and enterotoxigenic characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from various human clinical specimens.
abstract: The present study was designed to determine the slime production of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and the enterotoxigenic properties of Staphylococcus aureus strains, and to evaluate the clinical importance of slime-producing CoNS and enterotoxigenic S. aureus strains isolated from various human clinical specimens. For this purpose, a total of 120 Staphylococcus strains were isolated and identified, and further characterized for their slime production and enterotoxigenicity. Of the clinical isolates, 55 (45.8 %) were found to be S. aureus, and the others (54.2 %) were identified as CoNS. Of the CoNS, 20 (16.7 %) were further identified as Staphylococcus hominis, 18 (15 %) as Staphylococcus epidermidis, six (5 %) as Staphylococcus xylosus, six (5 %) as Staphylococcus warneri, five (4.2 %) as Staphylococcus sciuri, four (3.3 %) as Staphylococcus haemolyticus, and two each (1.7 %) as Staphylococcus simulans, Staphylococcus capitis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus, respectively. Thirty-nine (60 %) of 65 CoNS were found to be slime producers. Slime production was observed in all CoNS, except S. capitis, mostly from blood (38.5 %), tracheal aspiration (20.5 %) and urine (12.8 %) specimens. In addition, of the 55 S. aureus isolates, 46 (83.6 %) were found to be enterotoxigenic, and of these S. aureus strains, 39 (84.7 %) were positive for staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE)A. The results of this study showed that the slime-producing CoNS were mostly found in clinical specimens of blood, tracheal aspirate and urine. SEA was the predominant enterotoxin type detected in S. aureus strains from human clinical specimens.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Yuzuncu Yıl, 65080 Van, Turkey.
authors: Banur
authors: B
authors: Boynukara
authors: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Yuzuncu Yıl, 65080 Van, Turkey.
authors: Timur
authors: T
authors: Gulhan
authors: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Yuzuncu Yıl, 65080 Van, Turkey.
authors: Kemal
authors: K
authors: Gurturk
authors: Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Yuzuncu Yıl, 65080 Van, Turkey.
authors: Mustafa
authors: M
authors: Alisarli
authors: Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Yuzuncu Yıl, 65080 Van, Turkey.
authors: Erdal
authors: E
authors: Ogun
mesh_terms: D001826:Body Fluids / Q000382:microbiology; D003030:Coagulase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000145:classification; D006801:Humans; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003030:Coagulase; D004768:Enterotoxins; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial