Distribution of the putative virulence factor encoding gene sheta in Staphylococcus hyicus strains of various origins

In the present study, Staphylococcus (S.) hyicus strains isolated in Russia (n = 23) and Germany (n = 17) were investigated for the prevalence of the previously described genes sheta and shetb. Sheta was detected in 16 S. hyicus strains. Sheta-positive strains were mainly found among strains isolated from exudative epidermitis, and frequently together with the exfoliative toxin-encoding genes exhD and exhC. Partial sequencing of sheta in a single S. hyicus strain revealed an almost complete match with the sheta sequence obtained from GenBank. None of the S. hyicus strains displayed a positive reaction with the shetb-specific oligonucleotide primer used in the present study. According to the present results, the exotoxin encoding gene sheta seems to be distributed among S. hyicus strains in Russia and Germany. The toxigenic potential of this exotoxin, which does not have the classical structure of a staphylococcal exfoliative toxin, remains to be elucidated.

Persistent occurrence of a single Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus clone in the pig and monkey population in Indonesia

In the present study 41 mucoid growing Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains (37 strains isolated from healthy two from diseased pigs, two strains isolated from healthy monkeys) appeared to be phenotypically and genotypically identical to mucoid growing S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains isolated from a previously described outbreak among the pig and monkey population on the island of Bali, Indonesia. These findings indicate that the mucoid growing S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus clone was still present in the pig and monkey population in Indonesia.

Comparative studies on pheno- and genotypic properties of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine subclinical mastitis in central Java in Indonesia and Hesse in Germany

In the present study, 35 Staphylococcal strain isolated from milk samples of 16 cows from eight farms of three different geographic locations in Central Java, Indonesia, and from milk samples of 19 cows from 19 farms of different geographic locations in Hesse, Germany, were compared pheno- and genotypically. On the basis of cultural and biochemical properties as well as by amplification of the 23S rRNA specific to Staphylococcus aureus, all isolates could be identified as S. aureus. In addition, all S. aureus isolates harboured the genes clfA and coa encoding staphylococcal clumping factor and coagulase, and the gene segments encoding the immunoglobulin G binding region and the X-region of protein A gene spa. By PCR amplification, the genes seb, seg, seh, and sei was observed for the S. aureus cultures isolated in Central Java, Indonesia and the genes sec, sed, seg, seh, sei, sej and tst for the S. aureus cultures isolated in Hesse, Germany. None of the S. aureus of both origins harboured the genes sea, see, eta and etb. All isolates were additionally positive for the genes nuc, fnbA, hla, and set1. The gene hlb was found for 6 cultures from Central Java, Indonesia and 16 cultures from Hesse, Germany. However, the gene fnbB and the gene segments cnaA and cnaB were not present among the strains isolated in Central Java, Indonesia and rare among the strains isolated in Hesse, Germany. It was of interest that most of the S. aureus isolated in Central Java, Indonesia harboured the gene cap5 and most of the strains isolated in Hesse, Germany the gene cap8. The phenotypic and genotypic results of the present study might help to understand the distribution of prevalent S. aureus clones among bovine mastitis isolates of both countries and might help to control S. aureus infections in dairy herds.