MRSA Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about MRSA, including details on methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, hospitals, infection, antibiotic resistance, superbugs.

Molecular identification and characterization of mannitol-negative methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Shittu A, Lin J, Morrison D

School of Biochemistry, Genetics, Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville Campus), Private Bag X54001, Durban, Republic of South Africa; Department of Microbiology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

We report on the isolation, molecular identification, and characterization of 5 mannitol-negative methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from clinical samples in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, South Africa. Identification based on phenotypic testing and polymerase chain reaction detection of the S. aureus species-specific nuc gene and the coagulase gene indicated that the mannitol-negative isolates were S. aureus. Furthermore, they were mecA positive, and SCCmec typing demonstrated that all the isolates harbored type IV SCCmec. API STAPH (Biomerieux, Marcy-l'Etoile, France) misidentified 2 mannitol-negative MRSA that belonged to the major clone in KZN province, as Staphylococcus lugdunensis. Although the prevalence and mechanism of mannitol-negative MRSA is unknown, laboratories are encouraged to investigate S. aureus with atypical characteristics.

Published 20 December 2006 in Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis, 57(1): 93-5.
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