Nathita Phumthanakorn
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Title: Detection of genes encoding cell wall-associated proteins in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius isolates from dogs, humans, and the environment
Biography
Biography: Nathita Phumthanakorn
Abstract
The detection of 18 genes encoding cell wall-associated (CWA) proteins in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius named spsA-spsR were performed by using the new development of a set of multiplex PCRs (mPCRs). The distribution of these genes were detected in isolates from dogs (n=70), humans (n=25), and the environment of a veterinary hospital (n=40). The new 4 sets of mPCR comprising of 4-5 genes per set, including nuc gene as an internal control were developed. The mPCR sets could detect at least 1 pg/µl of DNA template. We found 23 sps gene profiles among the 135 isolates, with diverse gene combinations. spsD, spsF, spsI, spsO, spsP, and spsQ were variable detection but not statistically significant difference in each sources of isolates. Only spsP and spsQ encoded protein A or Spa were more frequently detected in the canine isolates from infected sites than from carriage sites suggested to play a role in pathogenicity. Interestingly, the positive amplicons of spsR gene in three human isolates showed gene deletions that were similar to the sequence in S. aureus ST398. The variation and difference of surface protein genes between human and animal S. aureus, including deletions, insertions, and truncation or pseudogenes have been reported and suggested to differentially affect host-specific adaptation.