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. 2022 Aug;25(3):649-659.
doi: 10.1007/s10123-022-00249-6. Epub 2022 May 24.

Effect of spdC gene expression on virulence and antibiotic resistance in clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates

Mayada E Bakr  1 , Mona T Kashef  2 , Alaa El-Dien M S Hosny  3 , Mohammed A Ramadan  3
Affiliations

Effect of spdC gene expression on virulence and antibiotic resistance in clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates

Mayada E Bakr et al. Int Microbiol. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Surface protein display C (SpdC) protein was described as a novel virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus that affects biofilm formation and pathogenesis and favors resistance to antimicrobials targeting cell wall. We evaluated the possible correlation between spdC gene expression level and virulence as well as antibiotic resistance phenotypes in S. aureus clinical isolates. The antimicrobial susceptibility of S. aureus clinical isolates (n = 100) was determined by the disk diffusion method. Vancomycin susceptibility was determined by the broth microdilution method. The level of the extracellular proteases and delta-hemolysin was evaluated by measuring the proteolysis and hemolysis zone diameters in skim milk and blood agar plates, respectively. Biofilm formation was assayed using the 96-well microtiter plate method. Most of the isolates (81%) were multidrug-resistant and about half of the isolates (49%) were methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Hemolysin, protease, and biofilm production were detectable in 79%, 71%, and 96% of the isolates. No significant correlation was detectable between the level of spdC gene expression and the activity of tested virulence factors or the antimicrobial resistance phenotype. Therefore, the role of SpdC protein as a virulence regulator in S. aureus needs further evaluation together with the determination of the predominant regulators for each virulence factor.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Biofilm; Hemolysin; Protease; Surface protein display C (SpdC); Virulence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Fox, cefoxitin; LZD, linezolid; E, erythromycin; CIP, ciprofloxacin; SXT, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim; TE, tetracycline; P, penicillin; CN, gentamicin; DA, clindamycin; C, chloramphenicol; VA, vancomycin
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Production level of different virulence factors by the tested Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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