Methicillin-resistant coagulase-negat... [Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) likely originated by acquisition of the SCCmec from coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). However, it is unknown whether the same SCCmec types are present in MRSA and CNS that reside in the same niche. Here we report a study to determine the presence of a potential mecA reservoir among CNS recovered from 10 pig farms. The 44 strains belonged to 10 different Staphylococcus species. All S. aureus belonged to ST398, with SCCmec types V and IVa. Type IVc as well as type III, VI and novel subtypes of type IV and not-typeable types were found in CNS. S. aureus, S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus shared SCCmec type V. Noteworthy is the presence of SCCmec type IVc in several staphylococcal species isolated from one pig farm that suggests exchange of this SCCmec type in CNS, but the general distribution of this SCCmec type still has to be established. In conclusion, this study shows that SCCmec types among staphylococcal species on pig farms are heterogeneous. On two farms more than one recovered staphylococcal species harbored the same SCCmec type. We conclude that staphylococci on pig farms act as a reservoir of heterogeneous SCCmec elements. These staphylococci may act as source for transfer of SCCmec to S. aureus.
