Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) Analysis of MRSA

Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus changes to methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) upon the acquisition of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), a genomic island that encodes methicillin resistance. SCCmec elements in S. aureus are classified into different types based on the combination of mec gene complexes and ccr gene complexes, which share variations, five classes in mec and eight in ccr. To date, at least 13 types of SCCmec elements have been identified and each SCCmec type has individual characteristics. It is known that hospital-associated MRSA strains carry SCCmec elements of types, I, II, and III, and the majority of community-acquired MRSA strains carry characteristic SCCmec elements, type IV SCCmec or type V SCCmec. We herein describe multiplex PCR methods to type SCCmec elements by identifying the mec gene complex class and ccr gene complex type.