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[Coagulase-negative Staphylococci isolated from patients. III. Phage typing]
Abstract:
Coagulase-negative staphylococci of clinical origin were subjected to phage typing by means of phages from the experimental Dutch (Verhoef) and American (Paris) sets. These sets of phages were used to study 153 and 378 strains, respectively. The Dutch phages could lyse 30.1%, and the American ones 19.6% of the cultures. The strains belonging to the species S. epidermidis were lysed in 34.3% and 32.4% of cases, respectively, which is indicative of the fact that the American phages possess a more pronounced specificity in respect to S. epidermidis. The unsufficient effectiveness of typing phages does not yet allow one to evaluate the outlook for the method of phage typing in the study of coagulase-negative staphylococci.
Insights
Phage typing of clinical coagulase-negative staphylococci showed limited effectiveness. While American phages demonstrated higher specificity for Staphylococcus epidermidis, overall lysis rates were insufficient for reliable strain differentiation.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Bacteriology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are significant opportunistic pathogens.
- Accurate identification and subtyping of CoNS are crucial for infection control and epidemiological studies.
- Phage typing is a traditional method for bacterial strain differentiation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of two experimental phage typing sets (Dutch and American) for coagulase-negative staphylococci.
- To assess the specificity of these phages, particularly against Staphylococcus epidermidis.
- To determine the potential utility of phage typing for CoNS research.
Main Methods:
- Subjecting clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci to phage typing.
- Utilizing two distinct sets of typing phages: the Dutch (Verhoef) set and the American (Paris) set.
- Analyzing the lysis patterns and calculating the percentage of lysed strains for each phage set.
Main Results:
- The Dutch phage set lysed 30.1% of 153 CoNS strains.
- The American phage set lysed 19.6% of 378 CoNS strains.
- American phages showed higher specificity for Staphylococcus epidermidis (32.4% lysis) compared to Dutch phages (34.3% lysis).
Conclusions:
- The current effectiveness of the evaluated phage typing sets is insufficient for reliable differentiation of coagulase-negative staphylococci.
- Further development and optimization of phage typing strategies are needed for CoNS research.
- The observed specificity of American phages for S. epidermidis warrants further investigation.