Detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) using polymerase chain reaction amplification.

Abstract

TOKUE, Y., SHOJI, S., SATOH, K., WATANABE, A. and MOTOMIYA, M. Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Using Polymerase Chain Reaction Amplification. Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 1991, 163 (1), 31-37 - Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied for the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This procedure amplified a segment of MRSA-PBP (penicillin-binding protein) gene of DNA extract from the clinical isolates of S. aureus. A 1339-base-pair fragment of MRSA-PBP gene in DNA from S, aureus (MIC of methicillin, ≥16μg/ml) was amplified and detected by a specific oligonucleotide probe. Moreover, a 4.3kb HindIII fragment containing MRSA-PBP gene was detected by using the same oligonucleotide probe. On the other hand, no PCR-amplified product was detected in DNA from methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MIC of methicillin, <16μg/ml).