Sequence analysis of a RAPD band differentiating high and low virulence Staphylococcus aureus strains from rabbits

RAPD typing revealed the presence of a nucleotide band in typical high viru lence rabbit Staphylococcus aureus strains which was absent in low virulenc e strains and in an atypical high virulence strain. The nucleotide sequence of this band was determined. Primers within this sequence were developed a nd PCR products of eight typical high virulence, one atypical high virulenc e and nine low virulence rabbit S. aureus strains were sequenced. All low v irulence strains and the atypical high virulence strain revealed a constant difference with the typical high virulence strains for nucleotide 377 of t he 1055 bp sequence. The eight typical high virulence strains possessed a g uanine base on this site, while the other strains tested showed an adenine base. These findings support the hypothesis on the clonal origin of typical high virulence rabbit S. aureus strains. After comparison with databases, two open reading frames (ORF) were identified within the sequence, which ap peared to encode two structural ribosomal proteins. The single nucleotide m utation does not affect the amino acid sequence of the protein it encodes f or. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.