AUTHOR=Shittu Adebayo O. , Oyedara Omotayo , Okon Kenneth , Raji Adeola , Peters Georg , von Müller Lutz , Schaumburg Frieder , Herrmann Mathias , Ruffing Ulla 

TITLE=An assessment on DNA microarray and sequence-based methods for the characterization of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from Nigeria

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01160

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2015.01160

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> is an important human pathogen causing nosocomial and community-acquired infections worldwide. In the characterization of this opportunistic pathogen, DNA microarray hybridization technique is used as an alternative to sequence based genotyping to obtain a comprehensive assessment on the virulence, resistance determinants, and population structure. The objective of this study was to characterize a defined collection of <italic>S. aureus</italic> isolates from Nigeria using the microarray technique, and to assess the extent that it correlates with sequence-based genotyping methods. The clonal diversity and genomic content of 52 methicillin-susceptible <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> (MSSA) were investigated by <italic>spa</italic> typing, MLST and DNA microarray hybridization. More than half (55.8%) of these isolates were associated with clonal complexes (CCs) typically associated with methicillin-resistant <italic>S. aureus</italic> (MRSA) clones i.e., CC1, CC5, CC8, CC30, and CC45. Certain genes linked with virulence (<italic>hlgA</italic> and <italic>clfA</italic>) and adherence (<italic>ebpS, fnbA, sspA, sspB</italic>, and <italic>sspP</italic>) were detected in all isolates. A number of genes or gene clusters were associated with distinct clonal types. The enterotoxin gene cluster (<italic>egc</italic>) was linked with CC5, CC25, CC30, CC45, and CC121, enterotoxin H gene (<italic>seh</italic>) with CC1, exfoliative toxin D gene (<italic>etd</italic>) with CC25 and CC80, and the epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor B gene (<italic>edinB</italic>) with CC25, CC80, and CC152. The excellent agreement between data from DNA microarray and MLST in the delineation of Nigerian MSSA isolates indicates that the microarray technique is a useful tool to provide information on antibiotic resistance, clonal diversity and virulence factors associated with infection and disease.</p>