title: Usefulness of the restriction-modification test plus staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec types and Panton-Valentine leukocidin encoding phages to identify Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-resistant clones.
abstract: We studied the usefulness of the restriction-modification (RM) test, staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec types, and Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-encoding phages to identify Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-resistant lineages and to differentiate clones that belong to the same lineage. A total of 108 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)--multi-locus sequence typing (MLST)--spa-typing. The RM correctly identified the lineages CC5, CC8, CC30, and CC398, but not CC25 and CC72. The SCCmec and RM combined analysis allowed differentiation between MLST types within the same lineage. Only 5 MRSA strains were PVL-positive. Four PVL-positive USA300 isolates carried elongated-head type PVL-encoding phages, while the sequence type (ST)-30 strain carried an icosahedral-head phage. The combination of the RM test method, SCCmec types, and PVL phage identification could be useful for MRSA typing purposes.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Laboratory, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo, Vigo, Spain. carmen.potel.alvarellos@sergas.es
authors.forename: Carmen Potel
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Alvarellos
authors.forename: Lucia Constenla
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Carames
authors.forename: Sonia Perez
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Patricia Alvarez
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Julio Torres
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Pi On
authors.forename: Maximiliano Alvarez
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fernandez
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D015280:DNA Restriction-Modification Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000235:genetics; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013204:Staphylococcus Phages / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D015280:DNA Restriction-Modification Enzymes; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin