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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2009, p. 704-710, Vol. 47, No. 3
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.01626-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Comparative Molecular Analysis Substantiates Zoonotic Potential of Equine Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
,
Birgit Walther,1*
Stefan Monecke,2
Claudia Ruscher,1
Alexander W. Friedrich,3
Ralf Ehricht,4
Peter Slickers,4
Alexandra Soba,5
Claus-G. Wleklinski,5
Lothar H. Wieler,1 and
Antina Lübke-Becker1
Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics (IMT), Free University Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany,1 Institut for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Fiedlerstr. 42, 01307 Dresden, Germany,2 Institute for Hygiene, University of Muenster, Robert-Koch-Street 41, 48149 Muenster, Germany,3 Clondiag GmbH, Loebstedter Strasse 103-105, D-07749 Jena, Germany,4 Synlab-Vet Augsburg, Leitershofer Str. 25, 86157 Augsburg, Germany5
Received 21 August 2008/ Returned for modification 27 October 2008/ Accepted 15 December 2008
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-associated, and resistance loci was applied. The results showed that clonal complex 8 (CC8) was absolutely predominant (16 strains) in 19 investigated equine MSRA strains. Of the CC8 strains, 13 belonged to sequence type 254 (ST254) and the other 3 to ST8. This genotype has been isolated from different equine patients in various regions over several years, substantiating the apparent predominance of CC8 STs in MRSA strains of horses worldwide. Furthermore, comparatively investigated human strains of ST254 displayed molecular-typing results indistinguishable from those for strains of equine origin. Two further equine strains (ST22 and ST1117) showed similarity to ST22 human strains (CC22). One equine strain belonged to ST398, a genotype recently described as being frequently isolated from specimens from pigs and pig farmers. These data provide evidence for the adaptation of certain MRSA genotypes to more than one mammalian species, reflecting their extended host spectra.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Microbiology and Epizootics (IMT), Free University Berlin, P.O. Box 040225, 10061 Berlin, Germany. Phone: 49 30 2093 6153. Fax: 49 30 2093 6067. E-mail: walther.birgit{at}vetmed.fu-berlin.de
Published ahead of print on 24 December 2008.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jcm.asm.org/.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2009, p. 704-710, Vol. 47, No. 3
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.01626-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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