Development of a Diagnostic Method to Allow Strain-Level Identification of Staphylococcus Aureus Based on the Nucleotide Sequence of the Enterotoxin Gene and the Amino Acid Sequence of its Enterotoxin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the enterotoxins produced by various strains of S. aureus for variations using enterotoxin A as a model. This research was carried out in the hopes that any observed variations would allow the strain of S. aureus that produced the enterotoxin to be identified. The results of the study indicate that it may be possible to identify a strain of S. aureus based on the nucleotide or amino acid sequence of its enterotoxin. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the enterotoxin A genes and the amino acid sequences of the translated proteins showed variation between many of the strains of S. aureus. The sequences of some strains were identical; however, in these cases the length of 1 sequence was much longer than the other. Because of the discrepancy in length, it is impossible to say that no variations would have been observed had the sequences consisted of the same number of nucleotides.