Molecular typing of Staphylococcus epidermidis and other CNS with repetitive element sequence-based PCR

The chromosomal distribution of the repetitive DNA sequence found in Mycoplasma pneumoniae (REP-MP2) provides an ideal target for detecting DNA fragment patterns specific to individual Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. haemolyticus strains. A REP-MP2 sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) was developed and applied to CNS isolates. We identified a 450 bp genomic DNA fragment which was common and specific to S. epidermidis isolates and not found in other CNS. In addition, S. epidermidis isolates showed several bands that could be grouped into 14 different fragment patterns. Similarly, S. haemolyticus isolates were classified into 10 groups. Significant correlations between the typing patterns of S. epidermidis and resistance to oxacillin (P< 0.05), gentamicin (P< 0.01), erythromycin (P< 0.02), and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (P< 0.001) were found. The rep-PCR method is a rapid and reproducible discriminatory means for molecular typing of S. epidermidis and other CNS.