title: [Differentiation of Staphylococcus aureus isolates based on phenotypical characters].
abstract: Typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolates is a necessary procedure for monitoring the transmission of S. aureus among carriers and in epidemiology. Evaluation of the range of relationship among isolates rely on epidemiological markers and is possible because of the clonal character of S. aureus species. Effective typing shows the scheme of transmission of infection in a selected area, enables identifying the reservoir of the microorganism, and may enhance effective eradication. A set of typing methods for use in analyses of epidemiological correlations and the identification of S. aureus isolates is presented. The following methods of typing are described: biotyping, serotyping, antibiogram, protein electrophoresis, cell protein profiles (proteom), immunoblotting, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), zymotyping, and standard species identification of S. aureus in the diagnostic laboratory. Phenotyping methods for S. aureus isolates used in the past and today in epidemiological investigations and in analyses of correlations among S. aureus isolates are presented in this review. The presented methods use morphological characteristics, physiological properties, and chemical structures of the bacteria as criteria for typing. The precision of these standard methods is not always satisfactory as S. aureus strains with atypical biochemical characters have evolved recently. Therefore it is essential to introduce additional typing procedures using molecular biology methods without neglecting phenotypic methods.
authors.affiliation: Zakład Mikrobiologii, Wydział Biochemii, Biofizyki i Biotechnologii, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie. jacekmie@mol.uj.edu.pl
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miedzobrodzki
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Małachowa
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Markiewski
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Białecka
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kasprowicz
mesh_terms: D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000145:classification; D001797:Blood Protein Electrophoresis; D010641:Phenotype; D012703:Serotyping / Q000379:methods*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification