Comparative molecular analysis substantiates zoonotic potential of equine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: Despite the increasing importance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in veterinary medicine, knowledge about the epidemiology of the pathogen in horses is still poor. The phylogenetic relationship of strains of human and equine origins has been addressed before, usually by analyzing results of common standard classification methods for MRSA. This work intends to go beyond the baseline of typing procedures in order to comparatively characterize equine and human MRSA strains with similar phylogenetic backgrounds. In addition to multilocus sequence typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, spa typing, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing, and a PCR for Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene detection, a microarray analysis of a total of 185 structural, virulence-associat

SUBMITTER: Walther B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2650932 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature