Molecular characterization of healthcare and community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using phage open-reading frame typing

Takaaki Konuma; Shunsuke Takahashi; Masato Suzuki; Arinobu Tojo

doi:10.18502/ijm.v13i4.6985

Takaaki Konuma Department of Hematology/Oncology, Institute of Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Shunsuke Takahashi Techno Suruga Laboratory Co., Ltd., Shizuoka, Japan
Masato Suzuki Department of Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Arinobu Tojo Department of Hematology/Oncology, Institute of Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v13i4.6985

Keywords: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Polymerase chain reaction; Open reading frames; Sequence analy- sis; Drug resistance; Leucocidin

Abstract

The polymerase chain reaction-based open reading frame typing (POT) method is a simple and rapid method for the strain-level discrimination of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We investigated the molecular charac- teristics of S. aureus strains by multilocus sequencing typing (MLST) and POT and the profiles of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes of MRSA isolates in a single center of Tokyo, Japan. Five types by MLST and 19 types by POT were detected in the 25 MRSA isolates. ST5 and a POT1 score of 93 were associated with healthcare-associated MRSA, whereas ST8 and a POT1 score of 106 were associated with community-associated MRSA. Each strain evaluated by POT score was completely associated with similar profiles of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes. These data showed that the POT system was a powerful molecular tool for the epidemiological characterization of MRSA isolates, which correlated with the profiles of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes.