RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STRAINS OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS GENUS USING MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES
Abstract:
Nosocomial infections cause serious problems in most countries. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most incriminated germs. Of course there are traditional methods for determining susceptibility to methicillin, but the phenotypic expression of this resistance often shows a heterogeneous nature. (1) We tested the methicillin resistance and confirmed the strain using mecA/nucA duplex PCR technique (2). The mecA gene encodes the penicillin binding protein 2a (PBP2a) that is characteristic to methicillin-resistant staphylococci (3). The nucA gene encodes a thermostable nuclease. The amplified fragment is unique to the S. aureus strains (4). The size of the amplified product was 533 bp in the case of the mecA gene, respectively 279 bp for the nucA gene. The amplified products were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. A total of 93 staphylococcus strains were tested using the mecA/nucA duplex PCR technique. The genotypic duplex PCR method lasts maximum 18 hours.
articol integral în limba română (.RO) |
articol integral în limba engleză (.EN) |