Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

21-4-2014 10:00 AM

End Date

21-4-2014 11:30 AM

Student's Major

Biological Sciences

Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Mentor's Name

Timothy Secott

Mentor's Email Address

timothy.secott@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

Biological Sciences

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Description

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is becoming more commonly encountered in clinical settings. The prevalence of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus species other than Staphylococcus aureus, and therefore the potential for the former to serve as a reservoir for methicillin resistance has not been studied in great detail. Staphylococcus species isolated from students as part of a class exercise in Medical Microbiology in 2012 were screened for resistance to oxacillin, which is similar to methicillin and is prescribed much more frequently. The identification of isolates was verified, and isolates were screened on oxacillin screening agar plates. Isolates that screened positive for oxacillin resistance were tested further to determine the minimum concentrations of oxacillin necessary for growth inhibition (MIC testing). Putative oxacillin-resistant isolates were also tested for the presence of mecA using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Five of 46 Staphylococcus isolates (10.6%) were oxacillin resistant when tested on oxacillin screening agar. None of the resistant isolates was identified as S. aureus. MIC testing revealed that 4 of 5 isolates were resistant to oxacillin, and 3 of 5 isolates contained the mecA gene, supporting the characterization of these isolates as oxacillin resistant. These data demonstrate the potential for coagulase negative staphylococci to serve as a reservoir for oxacillin resistance.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Included in

Bacteriology Commons

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Apr 21st, 10:00 AM Apr 21st, 11:30 AM

Carriage of Methicillin Resistance in Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci

CSU Ballroom

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is becoming more commonly encountered in clinical settings. The prevalence of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus species other than Staphylococcus aureus, and therefore the potential for the former to serve as a reservoir for methicillin resistance has not been studied in great detail. Staphylococcus species isolated from students as part of a class exercise in Medical Microbiology in 2012 were screened for resistance to oxacillin, which is similar to methicillin and is prescribed much more frequently. The identification of isolates was verified, and isolates were screened on oxacillin screening agar plates. Isolates that screened positive for oxacillin resistance were tested further to determine the minimum concentrations of oxacillin necessary for growth inhibition (MIC testing). Putative oxacillin-resistant isolates were also tested for the presence of mecA using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Five of 46 Staphylococcus isolates (10.6%) were oxacillin resistant when tested on oxacillin screening agar. None of the resistant isolates was identified as S. aureus. MIC testing revealed that 4 of 5 isolates were resistant to oxacillin, and 3 of 5 isolates contained the mecA gene, supporting the characterization of these isolates as oxacillin resistant. These data demonstrate the potential for coagulase negative staphylococci to serve as a reservoir for oxacillin resistance.

Recommended Citation

Moller, Christa. "Carriage of Methicillin Resistance in Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 21, 2014.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2014/poster_session_A/25