Genetic classification and distinguishing of Staphylococcus species based on different partial gap, 16S rRNA, hsp60, rpoB, sodA, and tuf gene sequences.

The analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences has been the technique generally used to study the evolution and taxonomy of staphylococci. However, the results of this method do not correspond to the results of polyphasic taxonomy, and the related species cannot always be distinguished from each other. Thus, new phylogenetic markers for Staphylococcus spp. are needed. We partially sequenced the gap gene (approximately 931 bp), which encodes the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, for 27 Staphylococcus species. The partial sequences had 24.3 to 96% interspecies homology and were useful in the identification of staphylococcal species (F. Layer, B. Ghebremedhin, W. König, and B. König, J. Microbiol. Methods 70:542-549, 2007). The DNA sequence similarities of the partial staphylococcal gap sequences were found to be lower than those of 16S rRNA (approximately 97%), rpoB (approximately 86%), hsp60 (approximately 82%), and sodA (approximately 78%). Phylogenetically derived trees revealed four statistically supported groups: S. hyicus/S. intermedius, S. sciuri, S. haemolyticus/S. simulans, and S. aureus/epidermidis. The branching of S. auricularis, S. cohnii subsp. cohnii, and the heterogeneous S. saprophyticus group, comprising S. saprophyticus subsp. saprophyticus and S. equorum subsp. equorum, was not reliable. Thus, the phylogenetic analysis based on the gap gene sequences revealed similarities between the dendrograms based on other gene sequences (e.g., the S. hyicus/S. intermedius and S. sciuri groups) as well as differences, e.g., the grouping of S. arlettae and S. kloosii in the gap-based tree. From our results, we propose the partial sequencing of the gap gene as an alternative molecular tool for the taxonomical analysis of Staphylococcus species and for decreasing the possibility of misidentification.