Identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci from bovine mastitis using RFLP-PCR of the groEL gene.
Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) have become the predominant pathogens causing bovine mastitis in many countries. CNS infections are associated with damage to milk secretory tissue of the mammary gland by increased connective tissue stroma, moderate increases of somatic cells count in milk and significant production decreases. These consequences impose serious economic losses for the farmers and the dairy industry. Routine veterinary laboratories do not usually identify CNS at the species level. Thereby, the aims of this study were to identify the most common staphylococcal pathogens involved in bovine mastitis using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of a partial groEL gene sequence and to compare our results with the identification carried out by the conventional method. A total of 54 isolates of Staphylococcus, involved in bovine mastitis, were analyzed by this method. The size and number of the fragments obtained by either AluI or HindIII/PvuII digestions made possible to form clear patterns differentiating, among the isolates, 11 of the most common species of animal staphylococcal pathogens. Most of the isolates clustered together with the reference strain of Staphylococcus chromogenes (28) and the type strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis (8). Besides, some isolates clustered together with the type strain of Staphylococcus aureus (5). All patterns were confirmed by the conventional biochemical method, showing concordant results. Thus, the PCR-RFLP of the groEL gene constitutes a reliable and reproducible molecular method for identification of CNS species responsible for bovine mastitis.
Santos
Olinda Cabral da Silva
OC
Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS, Bloco I, Cidade Universitária, 21491-590 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Barros
Elaine Menezes
EM
Brito
Maria Aparecida Vasconcelos Paiva
MA
Bastos
Maria do Carmo de Freire
Mdo C
Dos Santos
Kátia Regina Netto
KR
Giambiagi-Demarval
Marcia
M
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003030:Coagulase / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013045:Species Specificity; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*
D018834:Chaperonin 60; D003030:Coagulase