DETECTION BY PCR AND ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF A FIBRONECTIN-BINDING PROTEIN GENE (FBN) AMONG STAPHYLOCOCCAL ISOLATES

The fibronectin-binding proteins of Staphylococcus aureus are consider ed to be important virulence factors for colonisation and infection. T he polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect part of a gene e quivalent to the fbn A gene of S. aureus in 120 isolates of staphyloco cci (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, S. simulans, S. homin is, S. warneri, S. cohnii and S. lugdunensis). Primers specific for th e binding domain region of the fbn A gene of S. aureus produced PCR pr oducts of the predicted sizes (93 and 207 bp). The identity of the PCR products was confirmed by digestion with DdeI and nucleic acid hybrid isation. The fibronectin-binding activity of the staphylococci was det ermined with a particle agglutination assay (PAA). The fbn gene was fo und to be present by PCR in 107 of the 120 staphylococci tested, irres pective of their site of isolation, and expression of the gene was det ected by PAA in 101 of the 120 strains.