Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Ruminants with Mastitis in Northern Greece Dairy Herds: Genetic Relatedness and Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization

Staphylococcus aureus is the most common mastitis-related pathogen in dairy cattle, goats, and sheep worldwide. However, population structure genomic characteristics of mastitis-associated S. small ruminants are limited. Furthermore, genotypic phenotypic involved pathogenicity have been thoroughly defined, yet their association with severity mastitis not fully established. Here, we performed genotyping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) spa analyses to assess genetic diversity relatedness 162 strains recovered from clinical (CM) subclinical (SCM) cases sheep, bovines. PFGE analysis revealed 108 distinguishable pulsotypes 3 main clusters that comprised isolates three host species, while according typing, 32 different types were identified. Genotypic a spreading genetically related or indistinguishable among ovine, caprine, bovine farms distant geographical regions. In total, 28 staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) gene profiles observed, revealing diverse range SE genes isolates. By evaluating antimicrobial resistance, found low resistance all ruminant We also multiple correspondence analysis, which indicated presence sec gene, biofilm production, high autoaggregation ability associated CM cases.