J Bacteriol Virol.  2009 Jun;39(2):71-78. 10.4167/jbv.2009.39.2.71.

Correlation Between Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Type and Coagulase Serotype of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

• Cha EK
• Chang KS
• Hwang SM

• KMID: 1474167
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4167/jbv.2009.39.2.71

Abstract

Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type and coagulase serotype are important epidemiologic factors in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To investigate correlation between SCCmec type and coagulase serotype of MRSA, we analyzed SCCmec types of MRSA strains isolated from clinical sources and compared the results to coagulase serotypes and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. A total of 108 MRSA isolates were classified into four SCCmec types: II (55.6%), IV (21.3%) III (13.0%) and IIIA (8.3%), and five coagulase serotypes: II (54.6%), IV (21.3%), V (18.5%) and VII (2.8%). All of coagulase type II, IV and V strains belonged to SCCmec type II, III/IIIA and IV, respectively. SCCmec types II, III and IIIA were multidrug resistant, whereas SCCmec type IV strains were non-multidrug resistant except beta-lactams and erythromycin. The data provide that there is a significant correlation between SCCmec types and phenotypic characteristic of coagulase serotypes.

Keyword

Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Coagulase serotype

MeSH Terms

beta-Lactams
Coagulase
Epidemiologic Factors
Erythromycin
Methicillin Resistance
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Coagulase
Erythromycin
beta-Lactams

Figure

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  Figure 1. Detection of mecA genes from MRSA isolates by PCR. Lane 1: S. aureus (ATCC25923), Lanes 2 to 3: MRSA isolates, Lanes 4 to 5: MSSA isolates, M, molecular markers, 100 bp DNA ladder (Bioneer).

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  Figure 2. SCCmec types identified by multiplex PCR. Lanes 1, 4, 7, 10 (loci A and B primers): lanes 2, 5, 8, 11 (loci C and D): lanes 3, 6, 9, 12 (loci E to H): SCCmec type II, lanes 1 to 3 (284 bp, 209 bp, 342 bp): type III, lanes 4 to 6 (209 bp, 243 bp, 414 bp): type IIIA, lanes 7 to 9 (209 bp, 243 bp, 303 bp, 414 bp): type IV, lanes 10 to 12 (342 bp). M, molecular markers, 100 bp DNA ladder (Bioneer).

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