This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kumari, D. N. Articles by Cookson, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kumari, D. N. Articles by Cookson, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 04 1997, 881-885, Vol 35, No. 4
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Comparison and application of ribosome spacer DNA amplicon polymorphisms and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for differentiation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains

DN Kumari, V Keer, PM Hawkey, P Parnell, N Joseph, JF Richardson and B Cookson
Department of Microbiology, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Analysis of sequences in the fragments of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region by the ribosome spacer PCR (RS-PCR) can differentiate strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We compared this technique with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for typing MRSA strains and its application during an investigation of an outbreak. A total of 180 isolates of MRSA collected from various hospital laboratories within the United Kingdom and elsewhere were typed by PFGE and RS-PCR. PFGE identified 17 different types among the 180 strains examined, and RS-PCR generated 13 different types. PFGE could detect minor genetic variations among the isolates and could identify the variants which were not discriminated by RS-PCR. Four unique strain types detected by PFGE were not detected by RS-PCR. When applied to typing the outbreak-related strains from the vascular surgery unit at the General Infirmary at Leeds, the results of RS-PCR were identical to those of PFGE. Our results have shown that RS-PCR is a rapid, inexpensive technique that is highly reproducible and almost as discriminatory as PFGE for typing MRSA isolates and should be useful in the local investigation of MRSA outbreaks.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Miller, K., O'Neill, A. J., Wilcox, M. H., Ingham, E., Chopra, I. (2008). Delayed Development of Linezolid Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus following Exposure to Low Levels of Antimicrobial Agents. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1940-1944 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Spence, R. P., Wright, V., Ala-Aldeen, D. A. A., Turner, D. P., Wooldridge, K. G., James, R. (2008). Validation of Virulence and Epidemiology DNA Microarray for Identification and Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 1620-1627 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• O'Neill, A. J., Huovinen, T., Fishwick, C. W. G., Chopra, I. (2006). Molecular Genetic and Structural Modeling Studies of Staphylococcus aureus RNA Polymerase and the Fitness of Rifampin Resistance Genotypes in Relation to Clinical Prevalence. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 298-309 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fujita, S.-I., Senda, Y., Iwagami, T., Hashimoto, T. (2005). Rapid Identification of Staphylococcal Strains from Positive-Testing Blood Culture Bottles by Internal Transcribed Spacer PCR Followed by Microchip Gel Electrophoresis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 1149-1157 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hardy, K. J., Ussery, D. W., Oppenheim, B. A., Hawkey, P. M. (2004). Distribution and characterization of staphylococcal interspersed repeat units (SIRUs) and potential use for strain differentiation. Microbiology 150: 4045-4052 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Beggs, C. B. (2003). The Airborne Transmission of Infection in Hospital Buildings: Fact or Fiction?. Indoor and Built Environment 12: 9-18 [Abstract]  
• O'Neill, A. J., Chopra, I. (2002). Insertional inactivation of mutS in Staphylococcus aureus reveals potential for elevated mutation frequencies, although the prevalence of mutators in clinical isolates is low. J Antimicrob Chemother 50: 161-169 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Montesinos, I., Salido, E., Delgado, T., Cuervo, M., Sierra, A. (2002). Epidemiologic Genotyping of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis at a University Hospital and Comparison with Antibiotyping and Protein A and Coagulase Gene Polymorphisms. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 2119-2125 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yugueros, J., Temprano, A., Sanchez, M., Luengo, J. M., Naharro, G. (2001). Identification of Staphylococcus spp. by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism of gap Gene. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 3693-3695 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Couto, I., Pereira, S., Miragaia, M., Sanches, I. S., de Lencastre, H. (2001). Identification of Clinical Staphylococcal Isolates from Humans by Internal Transcribed Spacer PCR. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 3099-3103 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yugueros, J., Temprano, A., Berzal, B., Sánchez, M., Hernanz, C., Luengo, J. M., Naharro, G. (2000). Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase-Encoding Gene as a Useful Taxonomic Tool for Staphylococcus spp.. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 4351-4355 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Deplano, A., Schuermans, A., Van Eldere, J., Witte, W., Meugnier, H., Etienne, J., Grundmann, H., Jonas, D., Noordhoek, G. T., Dijkstra, J., van Belkum, A., van Leeuwen, W., Tassios, P. T., Legakis, N. J., van der Zee, A., Bergmans, A., Blanc, D. S., Tenover, F. C., Cookson, B. C., O'Neil, G., Struelens, M. J., The European Study Group on Epidemiological Marker, (2000). Multicenter Evaluation of Epidemiological Typing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains by Repetitive-Element PCR Analysis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 3527-3533 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Beggs, C.B., Kerr, K.G. (2000). The Threat Posed by Airborne Micro-Organisms. Indoor and Built Environment 9: 241-245  
• Chiou, C.-S., Wei, H.-L., Yang, L.-C. (2000). Comparison of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and Coagulase Gene Restriction Profile Analysis Techniques in the Molecular Typing of Staphylococcus aureus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 2186-2190 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Baudart, J., Lemarchand, K., Brisabois, A., Lebaron, P. (2000). Diversity of Salmonella Strains Isolated from the Aquatic Environment as Determined by Serotyping and Amplification of the Ribosomal DNA Spacer Regions. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 1544-1552 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tang, Y.-W., Waddington, M. G., Smith, D. H., Manahan, J. M., Kohner, P. C., Highsmith, L. M., Li, H., Cockerill, F. R. III, Thompson, R. L., Montgomery, S. O., Persing, D. H. (2000). Comparison of Protein A Gene Sequencing with Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and Epidemiologic Data for Molecular Typing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 1347-1351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Marcos, J. Y., Soriano, A. C., Salazar, M. S., Moral, C. H., Ramos, S. S., Smeltzer, M. S., Carrasco, G. N. (1999). Rapid Identification and Typing of Staphylococcus aureus by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of the aroA Gene. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 570-574 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• van der Zee, A., Verbakel, H., van Zon, J.-C., Frenay, I., van Belkum, A., Peeters, M., Buiting, A., Bergmans, A. (1999). Molecular Genotyping of Staphylococcus aureus Strains: Comparison of Repetitive Element Sequence-Based PCR with Various Typing Methods and Isolation of a Novel Epidemicity Marker. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 342-349 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Berridge, B. R., Fuller, J. D., de Azavedo, J., Low, D. E., Bercovier, H., Frelier, P. F. (1998). Development of Specific Nested Oligonucleotide PCR Primers for the Streptococcus iniae 16S-23S Ribosomal DNA Intergenic Spacer. J. Clin. Microbiol. 36: 2778-2781 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Olmos, A., Camarena, J. J., Nogueira, J. M., Navarro, J. C., Risen, J., Sánchez, R. (1998). Application of an Optimized and Highly Discriminatory Method Based on Arbitrarily Primed PCR for Epidemiologic Analysis of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Nosocomial Infections. J. Clin. Microbiol. 36: 1128-1134 [Abstract] [Full Text]