title: Tandem repeat sequence analysis of staphylococcal protein A (spa) gene in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.
abstract: A putative staphylococcal protein A (spa) gene was discovered in the genome of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and used for developing a species-specific spa typing protocol. Thirty-one clinical methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) isolates from dogs and cats in four countries were characterized by spa typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCCmec) typing. The results indicated the occurrence of two MRSP clones that acquired distinct SCCmec elements in Europe (t02, PFGE type A, SCCmec type III,) and California (t06, PFGE type B, SCCmec type V). Sequence analysis of mecA revealed the occurrence of four alleles (mecA1 to mecA4), which correlated with the geographical origin of the isolates and enabled discrimination of two distinct subtypes within the European clone. The newly developed spa typing method appeared to be a promising tool for easy and rapid typing of MRSP, either alone or in combination with SCCmec and mecA typing for fine-structure epidemiological analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Disease Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Stigbøjlen 4, Frederiksberg C, 1870, Denmark. asm@life.ku.dk
authors.forename: Arshnee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moodley
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stegger
authors.forename: Nouri L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Ben Zakour
authors.forename: J Ross
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guardabassi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D002415:Cats; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D010856:Columbidae; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D004285:Dogs; D005843:Geography; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D006736:Horses; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000662:veterinary*; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A / Q000235:genetics*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A