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. 2003 May;41(5):2027-32.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.41.5.2027-2032.2003.

Two international methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones endemic in a university hospital in Patras, Greece

M Aires de Sousa  1 , C Bartzavali, I Spiliopoulou, I Santos Sanches, M I Crisóstomo, H de Lencastre
Affiliations

Two international methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones endemic in a university hospital in Patras, Greece

M Aires de Sousa et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2003 May.

Abstract

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of SmaI macrofragments and hybridization of ClaI digests with the mecA- and Tn554-specific DNA probes were used to define the endemic clones of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among strains collected in 1993 and 1998 to 2000 at the University Hospital of Patras, Patras, Greece. Representatives of each clonal type were analyzed by spaA typing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) typing. The results indicated the existence of two successive international MRSA clones: (i) a clonal type with PFGE type A, sequence type (ST) 30 (ST30), and SCCmec type IV, which was very similar to a clone widely spread in the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Finland, and (ii) a clonal type with PFGE type B, ST239, and SCCmec III, which was related to the Brazilian clone. Both clones seem to be widespread in Greece as well. A novel MRSA clone is also described and is characterized by a new MLST type (ST80) associated with SCCmec type IV and with the presence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
PFGE of SmaI macrorestriction fragments of MRSA clinical isolates. Lanes 1 and 23, molecular size standards (bacteriophage lambda oligomers); lanes 2 and 22, NCTC 8325; lane 17, strain A3680, representative of the Athens MRSA clone (36); lanes 20 and 21, strains HPV107 and HU25, representatives of the Iberian (34) and the Brazilian (37) clones, respectively; lane 3, GRE112; lane 4, GRE145; lane 5, GRE104; lane 6, GRE7; lane 7, GRE3; lane 8, GRE151; lane 9, GRE159; lane 10, GRE2; lane 11, GRE328; lane 12, GRE413; lane 13, GRE365; lane 14, GRE398; lane 15, GRE163; lane 16, GRE109; lane 18, GRE108; lane 19, GRE120. The letters at the bottom indicate PFGE types or subtypes.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Comparison of PFGE type A with international samples. Lanes 1 and 6, NCTC 8325; lane 2, GRE5 (from Greece; this study); lane 3, MCO58 (from Mexico) (2); lane 4, EMRSA-16 (from the United Kingdom) (Harmony Project); lane 5, 75916-Helsinki V (from Finland) (Harmony Project).
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Variations of MRSA clonal types over time in the University Hospital of Patras, Patras, Greece.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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