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Updated: Apr 4, 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
A clonal complex 12 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain, West Australian MRSA-59, harbors a novel
Stefan Monecke1, Geoffrey W Coombs2, Julie Pearson3
1Alere Technologies GmbH, Jena, Germany Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany InfectoGnostics, Forschungscampus, Jena, Germany monecke@rocketmail.com.
Abstract:
A West Australian methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain (WA MRSA-59) was characterized by microarray and sequencing. Its pseudo-staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element comprised dcs, Q9XB68-dcs, mvaS-SCC, Q5HJW6, dru, ugpQ, ydeM, mecA-mecR-mecI, txbi mecI, tnp IS431, copA2-mco (copper resistance), ydhK, arsC-arsB-arsR (arsenic resistance), open reading frame PT43, and per-2. Recombinase genes, xylR (mecR2), and PSM-mec (phenol-soluble modulin) were absent. We suggest that mec complex A should be split into two subtypes. One harbors PSM-mec and xylR (mecR2). It is found in SCCmec types II, III, and VIII. The second subtype, described herein, is present in WA MRSA-59 and some coagulase-negative staphylococci.
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