Molecular typing of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolates from Shiraz teaching hospitals by PCR-RFLP of coagulase gene

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES To investigate coagulase gene polymorphism of MRSA and MSSA isolates from Shiraz teaching hospitals from 2011 to 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 302 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were collected from clinical specimens in three major teaching hospitals and confirmed on the basis of morphological characteristics and biochemical tests. The isolates were subjected to molecular typing on the basis of coagulase enzyme gene polymorphism by PCR-RFLP. RESULTS There were 27 and 28 different RFLP patterns for AluI and HaeIII restriction enzymes respectively. This study showed that the discriminatory power of coagulase gene typing by Hae III enzyme was more than that of Alu I enzyme. CONCLUSION PCR-RFLP method is rapid, reproducible, simple and efficient for typing Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical specimens. This study showed that Hae III discriminatory power is better than Alu I for typing Staphylococcus aureus isolates.