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 Kawano, J. Articles by Okamoto, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kawano, J. Articles by Okamoto, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 09 1996, 2072-2077, Vol 34, No. 9
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Isolation of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci from chickens

J Kawano, A Shimizu, Y Saitoh, M Yagi, T Saito and R Okamoto
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, Japan.

Methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci were isolated from the nares and skin of 1- to 8-week-old healthy chickens in three flocks from a farm. Isolation of methicillin-resistant coagulase- negative staphylococci was positive for 72 (25.7%) of the 280 chickens tested, with the frequency varying from 2.2 to 100% according to flock. A total of 45 appropriate isolates were selected and subjected to identification. Of the 45 methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates selected, 37 were identified as Staphylococcus sciuri, 5 were identified as Staphylococcus epidermidis, and 3 were identified as Staphylococcus saprophyticus. The distribution of the species was different among the flocks. Comparative analysis of the SmaI-digested chromosomal DNA by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the isolates could have originated from a single clone of each of S. sciuri and S. saprophyticus and three clones of S. epidermidis. By two methods based on the PCR technique, the mecA gene was detected in all five representative isolates of each methicillin- resistant coagulase-negative staphylococcal clone. The nucleotide sequence of a PCR fragment obtained from an isolate of S. sciuri was completely identical to the corresponding region of mecA genes reported in human methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates and Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates. The representative methicillin- resistant coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates were resistant to many beta-lactam antibiotics, and some isolates were also resistant to macrolide and aminoglycoside antibiotics. This is the first evidence of the existence of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci from animals possessing the mecA gene.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Dhanarani, T. S., Shankar, C., Park, J., Dexilin, M., Kumar, R. R., Thamaraiselvi, K. (2009). Study on acquisition of bacterial antibiotic resistance determinants in poultry litter. Poult. Sci. 88: 1381-1387 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Schnellmann, C., Gerber, V., Rossano, A., Jaquier, V., Panchaud, Y., Doherr, M. G., Thomann, A., Straub, R., Perreten, V. (2006). Presence of New mecA and mph(C) Variants Conferring Antibiotic Resistance in Staphylococcus spp. Isolated from the Skin of Horses before and after Clinic Admission. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 4444-4454 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dominguez, E., Zarazaga, M., Torres, C. (2002). Antibiotic Resistance in Staphylococcus Isolates Obtained from Fecal Samples of Healthy Children. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 2638-2641 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Zadoks, R., van Leeuwen, W., Barkema, H., Sampimon, O., Verbrugh, H., Schukken, Y. H., van Belkum, A. (2000). Application of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and Binary Typing as Tools in Veterinary Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Epidemiologic Analysis of Bovine and Human Staphylococcus aureus Isolates. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 1931-1939 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Couto, I., Sanches, I. S., Sá-Leão, R., de Lencastre, H. (2000). Molecular Characterization of Staphylococcus sciuri Strains Isolated from Humans. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 1136-1143 [Abstract] [Full Text]