Occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from cattle and chicken, and analyses of their mecA, mecR1 and mecI genes.

From 2001 to 2005, various specimens from cattle, pigs, and chickens were collected and examined for the presence of methicillin (oxacillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The isolates from 19 specimens were tested for the presence of the mecA gene. Methicillin resistance was confirmed by determining the MICs for these isolates. Among these 19 mecA-positive isolates, 16 were consistently found to be resistant to methicillin. The mecR1 gene was found in all 19 mecA-positive S. aureus, and mecI was also detected in 15 of the mecA-positive S. aureus. The mecI gene had an identical sequence to the reference sequence in 9 of the 15 mecI-positive isolates. Three of the other six isolates had a C to T substitution at nucleotide 202, and one had a G to T substitution at nucleotide 43. These have been previously identified in MRSA from humans. Two isolates from chickens contained an addition of C at position 23. This mutation of MRSA has not been reported elsewhere. In all 15 mecI-positive MRSA, the sequence of the mec promoter/operator region was identical to the reference sequence. This suggests other mechanisms for overcoming the repression of resistance caused by mecI, beyond the simple product interaction between the mecA, mecRI, and mecI genes.