MOLECULAR TYPING OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS STRAINS BY PCR-RFLP OF SPA GENE: A REFERENCE LABORATORY PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The study demonstrates the importance of spa genotyping in the discrimination of MRSA strains, which were otherwise indistinguishable by bacteriophage typing. spa genotyping allowed differentiation of strains within a particular phage type. Nucleotide sequencing of isolates of different PCR-RFLP patterns indicated a correlation between the RFLP patterns of a variable number of tandem repeats and the phage type. The study provides valuable information on the epidemiological characterization of MRSA strains.