DISCRIMINATION OF EPIDEMIC AND NONEPIDEMIC METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS STRAINS ON THE BASIS OF PROTEIN A GENE POLYMORPHISM

The X region of the protein A gene of Staphylococcus aureus contains a highly polymorphic sequence which is composed of repeats of 24 bp. We used amplification by PCR to investigate whether this region could be used to discriminate between epidemic and nonepidemic methicillin-res istant S. aureus (MRSA) strains. Most epidemic MRSA strains (24 of 33) harbored more than seven repeats, while most nonepidemic MRSA strains (10 of 14) contained seven or fewer repeats. It is conceivable that a longer X region results in a better exposition of the Fc-binding regi on of protein A, thereby facilitating colonization of host surfaces an d contributing to the epidemic phenotype.