PCR-RFLP by AluI for coa gene of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from burn wounds, pneumonia and otitis media

Coagulase is considered as the main determinant to distinguish Staphylococcus aureus. The 3' end coding region of the coagulase gene (coa) has a series of 81 bp tandem repeats varying in number and sites of restriction enzyme among diverse isolates. The polymorphism of the coagulase gene among 45 MRSA isolated from burn wounds, otitis media and pneumonia in Basra city, Iraq, were investigated using PCR-RFLP analysis for 3' end region with AluI enzyme revealing unique restriction patterns (18 patterns) not described in any previous studies. Particularly, pattern 1 was predominant. Different RFLP patterns of coa were shared among isolates from the different sampling sites. The present study used the polymorphism of Coagulase gene to identify MRSA subtypes, estimate the efficiency of these methods in distinguishing the variable strains and compare these subtypes with the source of isolates.