Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Tandem repeat sequence analysis of staphylococcal protein A (spa) gene in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius

A. Moodley, M. Stegger, N.L. Zakour, J.R. Fitzgerald, L. Guardabassi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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-held 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. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Original languageUndefined/Unknown
Pages (from-to)320-326
Number of pages7
JournalVeterinary Microbiology
Volume135
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2009

Cite this