Screening, detection, and serotyping methods for toxin genes and enterotoxins in Staphylococcus strains

Staphylococcus aureus continues to play a significant role in foodborne outbreak investigations, with numerous individuals sickened each year after ingesting assorted foods contaminated with staphylococcal enterotoxins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of several methods for the screening, detection, and enterotoxin serotyping of staphylococcal bacterial strains for classical staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs; SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, and SEE) and the newly described SE and SE-like enterotoxin genes (seg, seh, sei, sej, sek, sel, sem, sen, seo, sep, seq, ser, ses, set, and seu). Inclusivity and exclusivity panels of staphylococcal strains were tested using a multiplex PCR method in addition to three polyvalent commercially prepared ELISA systems for the detection of SEA-SEE and one monovalent assay for the identification of classical SE serotypes. The results indicate an overall agreement between serological detection methods with a few exceptions, and molecular characterization identified an abundance of SE and SE-like enterotoxin genes including several potentially enterotoxigenic isolates that would have otherwise been missed by ELISA-based methods. These findings demonstrate the significance of PCR for future screening purposes and the use of ELISA systems for the detection and enterotoxin serotyping of staphylococcal bacterial strains.