DETECTION OF THE GENE FOR TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME TOXIN-1 IN STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS BY ENZYME-LABELED OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES

A colony hybridisation method with enzyme-labelled oligonucleotide pro bes was developed to detect the gene for toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (tst). For rapid identification, bacterial colonies were transferred f rom agar plates directly on to nylon membranes. These procedures took only 3 h. Results obtained by this test correlated,yell with those obt ained by the reverse passive latex agglutination test. Thus, this meth od is convenient and reliable for the detection of tst in staphylococc i, which could be useful for both research and clinical purposes. This method demonstrated that tst was more prevalent in methicillin-resist ant Staphylococcus aureus (56%) than in methicillin-susceptible S. aur eus (4%).