The characterization and comparison of Staphylococcus aureus by antibiotic susceptibility testing, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction, and random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction.

Thirty-five of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from food raw materials and workers' hands in a noshery were characterized using antibiotic susceptibility testing, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR), and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR. As a similarity threshold of 90%, ERIC-PCR classified 35 S. aureus isolates into 28 ERIC types with discrimination indexes (D) of 0.984, while RAPD-PCR grouped 35 S. aureus isolates into five clusters (A-E) showing 19 RAPD types with D of 0.949. Four resistance patterns were observed with D of 0.826. A comparison of characterization of S. aureus indicated a clear correlation between ERIC-PCR and RAPD-PCR or resistance patterns in some strains. It was concluded that ERIC-PCR method could be used for genetic diversity of S. aureus and tracing the sources of it from the food chain.