J Vet Sci.  2011 Sep;12(3):221-226. 10.4142/jvs.2011.12.3.221.

Determination of staphylococcal exotoxins, SCCmec types, and genetic relatedness of Staphylococcus intermedius group isolates from veterinary staff, companion animals, and hospital environments in Korea

• Youn JH
• Koo HC
• Ahn KJ
• Lim SK
• Park YH

• KMID: 1067393
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2011.12.3.221

Abstract

The Staphylococcus (S.) intermedius group (SIG) has been a main research subject in recent years. S. pseudintermedius causes pyoderma and otitis in companion animals as well as foodborne diseases. To prevent SIG-associated infection and disease outbreaks, identification of both staphylococcal exotoxins and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types among SIG isolates may be helpful. In this study, it was found that a single isolate (one out of 178 SIG isolates examined) harbored the canine enterotoxin SEC gene. However, the S. intermedius exfoliative toxin gene was found in 166 SIG isolates although the S. aureus-derived exfoliative toxin genes, such as eta, etb and etd, were not detected. SCCmec typing resulted in classifying one isolate as SCCmec type IV, 41 isolates as type V (including three S. intermedius isolates), and 10 isolates as non-classifiable. Genetic relatedness of all S. pseudintermedius isolates recovered from veterinary staff, companion animals, and hospital environments was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Strains having the same band patterns were detected in S. pseudintermedius isolates collected at 13 and 18 months, suggesting possible colonization and/or expansion of a specific S. pseudintermedius strain in a veterinary hospital.

Keyword

methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus intermedius group; Staphylococcus intermedius group; Staphylococcus pseudintermedius; toxin

MeSH Terms

Animals
Bacterial Toxins/genetics/metabolism
Cat Diseases/epidemiology/*microbiology
Cats
Chromosomes, Bacterial/genetics/metabolism
Dog Diseases/epidemiology/*microbiology
Dogs
Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field/veterinary
Enterotoxins/genetics/metabolism
Exfoliatins/genetics/metabolism
Exotoxins/*genetics/metabolism
Hospitals, Animal
Humans
Medical Staff, Hospital
Molecular Sequence Data
Pets/microbiology
Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary
Staphylococcus/genetics/isolation & purification
Staphylococcus intermedius/*genetics/*isolation & purification

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Staphylococcal enterotoxins A (sea), B (seb), C (sec), D (sed), E (see), G (seg), H (she), and I (sei), and the toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (tsst-1) were detected by single or multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 178 SIG isolates collected from veterinary staff, companion animals, and veterinary hospital environments in Korea. Genomic DNA from FRI913, FRI 361, FRI 472, FRI 569, MNHOCH, and RN4220 were used as controls. Multiplex PCR for sec, tsst-1/see, seg, sei/seb, sed, and seh and uniplex PCR for sea were performed. Only a single isolate from a veterinary staff (H1-23, hand) was positive for sec.

• 

  Fig. 2 The PCR-amplified sec gene sequence from the Staphylococcus (S.) pseudindermedius isolate H1-23 collected from a veterinary staff member was aligned with that of sec genes encoding S. intermedius SECcanine from the S. intermedius gene. Nucleotide sequences with GenBank numbers U91526, X05815, DQ192646, and X51661 were used for the alignment analysis of seccanine, sec1, sec2, and sec3, respectively. Aligment was peformed using the Vector NTI Align X program.

• 

  Fig. 3 Comparison of S. intermedius group isolates from the H veterinary hospital between September 2006 and October 2009 using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to detect identical PFGE patterns between isolates from veterinary staff, companion animals, and veterinary hospital environments collected on the same and different sampling dates. Lane M: Lambda Ladder PFG Marker (50~1,000 kb); Lanes 1~3 (SI) from single CA#1 (dog: anus, nasal mucosa, skin); Lane 4 (SI), VS#1 (nasal mucosa); Lanes 5~6 (SI) from single VS#2 (nasal mucosa, hand); Lanes 7~8 (SP) from a single CA#3 (dog: ear canal, ear canal); Lane 9 (SP), VS#3 (nasal mucosa); Lanes 10~11 (SP) from a single CA#4 (dog: anus, nasal mucosa); Lane 12 (SP), CA#5 (anus); Lane 13 (SP) VS#4 (nasal mucosa); Lane 14 (SP) VS#5 (nasal mucosa); Lane 15 (SP) VS#6 (nasal mucosa); Lane 16 (SP) CA#6 (anus); Lane 17 (SP) VS#7 (nasal mucosa); Lane 18 (SP) VS#8 (nasal mucosa); Lane 19 (SP) VHE#1 (floor); Lane 20 (SP) CA#7 (anus). CA: companion animal, VS: veterinary staff, VHE: veterinary hospital environment, SI: Staphylococcus intermedius, SP: Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.

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