We report here the draft genome sequence of the vancomycin-resistant strain Staphylococcus aureus VRS3b. The 2.8-Mb genome, assembled into 46 contigs, harbored 2,915 putative coding sequences. The G+C content of the genome was 32.7%.

A vaccine composed of three field isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) derived from cases of mastitis in cows was developed. The vaccine was administered to nine uninfected cows while 10 other cows were used as controls. All cows were challenged with a highly virulent S. aureus strain administered into two quarters of each cow. Quarters were tested for clinical signs, secretion of S. a...

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus aureus is a common and significant pathogen in cystic fibrosis. We sought to determine if quantitative PCR (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing could provide a rapid, culture-independent approach to the identification of S. aureus airway infections. METHODS We examined the sensitivity and specificity of two qPCR assays, targeting the femA and 16S rRNA gene, using cult...

The aim of this study was to investigate the carriage of vancomycin-resistance genes by Staphylococcus aureus found in drinking water supplies. A total of 100 samples (potable water and faucet swabs) were analyzed for the presence of S. aureus and their carriage of vancomycin-resistance genes. Mannitol salt agar was used for the isolation of staphylococci, and confirmation of S. aureus was carr...

The anterior nares are a primary ecologic niche for Staphylococcus aureus, and nasal colonization by this opportunistic pathogen increases the risk of development of S. aureus infection. Clearance of S. aureus nasal colonization greatly reduces this risk. Mupirocin ointment is the current standard of care for clearance of S. aureus nasal colonization, but resistance to this antibiotic is emergi...

BACKGROUND Previous work showed that piperazinyl-cross-linked ciprofloxacin dimer exhibits good bacteriostatic activity with Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus; lethal activity was not measured. Subsequently, the dimer failed to kill Mycobacterium smegmatis but blocked growth. Whether the compound is lethal with non-mycobacterial species is not known. METHODS Bacteriostatic an...

To understand Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage and its relationship with subsequent disease, insight into the natural (nonclinical) bacterial population structure is essential. This study investigated whether the distributions of S. aureus genotypes that cause colonization differ by geographic locales. High-throughput amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was performed on n...