Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Multiplex PCR Assay for Typing of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome Mec Types I to V in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: September 5, 2013
Clonal types and multidrug resistance patterns of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) recovered in
R Mato1, F Campanile, S Stefani
1Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB/UNL), Oeiras, Portugal.
Abstract:
A large number (272) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates recovered from Italian hospitals during the early and late 1990s were characterized for multidrug resistance pattern and clonal type using a combination of genotyping methods, including pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), spaA typing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), determination of SCC mec type, and hybridization pattern with Tn 554. The majority of MRSA belonged to four genetic lineages: the pandemic Iberian and Brazilian clones, and two unique clonal types-the "Italian" and "Rome" clones of MRSA. The Italian clone carried the SCC mec type I in the genetic background of ST228, which is a double-locus variant of the sequence type of the multidrug-resistant New York/Japanese clone (ST5). The properties of the Rome clone showed several striking similarities to those of the Archaic clone of MRSA that was dominant among MRSA isolates in the mid-1960s to 1970s, but has not been detected since then in recent global surveillance studies.
Related Concept Videos
Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance
Mechanism of Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA
Development of Antibiotic Resistance
Staphylococcal Skin Infections
Mismatch Repair
Modern Molecular Taxonomy