ABSTRACTObjective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the methicillin resistance gene, and some virulence factors in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcusaureus (MRSA) isolates by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Methods: This study has included 12 MRSA isolates. All isolates were previously identified as S. aureus by a standard microbiological procedure, anda detection of methicillin resistance was realized by phenotypic methods. Following genomic DNA extraction, the presence of gyrA, mecA, lukPV, andtst genes was analyzed by duplex PCR. All retained S. aureus species have been found to contain gyrA gene.Results: Ten stains have been found to harbor mecA gene indicating it’s responsibility for methicillin resistance in those strains. Among the 12 strains,six of which were found to be Panton-Valentine leukocidine positive while none of which has tst gene encoding the toxic shock syndrome toxin.Conclusion: The pathogenesis of MRSA infections is related to the expression of a wide variety of virulence factors.Keywords: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Panton-Valentine leukocidine, Toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, Multidrug resistance, mecA.
Characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carrying the toxic shock syndrome toxin gene: high prevalence of clonal complex 22 strains and the emergence of new spa types t223 and t605 in Iran