Physiological and molecular analysis of a mecA-negative Staphylococcus aureus clinical strain that expresses heterogeneous methicillin resistance.

Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolate 61/5896 exhibited methicillin resistance (MIC 64 mg/L), but lacked mecA, which encodes penicillin-binding protein 2'. The strain was isolated in England in 1961, and exhibited unstable heterogeneous methicillin resistance. When cultivated in drug-free medium, the methicillin resistance of 61/5896 increased after three daily passages, then decreased and was completely lost after 12 days' passage. Electron microscopy revealed that strain 61/5896 had a thicker and rougher cell wall than its methicillin-susceptible derivatives. It produced about three times more penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2) than methicillin-susceptible derivatives. The strain was characteristically a non-producer of autolytic enzyme, though the phenotype, which was lost easily, was not directly correlated with methicillin resistance.