An assessment on DNA microarray and sequence-based methods for the characterization of methicillin-susceptible...

Staphylococcus aureus 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 S. aureus 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 Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) were investigated by spa 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 S. aureus (MRSA) clones i.e., CC1, CC5, CC8, CC30, and CC45. Certain genes linked with virulence (hlgA and clfA) and adherence (ebpS, fnbA, sspA, sspB, and sspP) were detected in all isolates. A number of genes or gene clusters were associated with distinct clonal types. The enterotoxin gene cluster (egc) was linked with CC5, CC25, CC30, CC45, and CC121, enterotoxin H gene (seh) with CC1, exfoliative toxin D gene (etd) with CC25 and CC80, and the epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor B gene (edinB) 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.