Abstract

This study was aimed at investigating: (i) three adhesin genes (clf A, fnb A andcna) in Staphylococus aureus strains, (ii) the presence of slime (ica A and ica D genes) in both Staphylococus epidermidis and S. aureus strains isolated from surgical wounds. The slime and adhesin genes were detected by multiplex PCR. The ica A/ica D positivity rates were determined as 66.2% (104/157) in a total of 157 staphylococcal strains. While the occurance rate of slime genes was 69.6% (48/69) among the S. epidermidis, this ratio was 63.6% (56/88) among the S.aureus isolates. No statistically significant difference was found between S. epidermidis and S. aureus isolates in terms of the presence of slime genes (p > 0.05). Among the 88 S. aureus strains, almost all of the strains were positive for fnb A gene (97.7%). The cna and clf A positivity rates were detected in 69 (78.4%) and 45 (51.1%) isolates, respectively. The ica A and ica D genes responsible for slime production have been found to have high prevalence. Also, the frequency of adhesin genes was determined at a high rate in S. aureus strains isolated from surgical wounds. Molecular identification of virulent staphylococcal strains may help in management in clinical decision making.

Key words: Adhesins, slime, Staphylococus aureus, Staphylococus epidermidis, wound infection.