Antibiotics (Dec 2021)

Molecular Characterization of Rifampicin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Isolates from Retail Foods in China

  • Jiahui Huang,
  • Feng Zhang,
  • Jumei Zhang,
  • Jingsha Dai,
  • Dongli Rong,
  • Miao Zhao,
  • Juan Wang,
  • Yu Ding,
  • Moutong Chen,
  • Liang Xue,
  • Qihui Gu,
  • Shi Wu,
  • Qingping Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10121487
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 12
p. 1487

Abstract

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This study investigated the molecular characteristics of rifampin-resistant (RIF-R) Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered from 4300 retail food samples covering most provincial capitals in China, from 2011 to 2016. Of the 1463 S. aureus enrolled, 149 isolates (142 MSSA and 7 MRSA) were identified as rifampicin-resistant, including 20 high-level (MICs ≥ 8 μg/mL) and 129 low-level (MICs between 2 and 4 μg/mL) rifampicin-resistant strains. Most of the RIF-R S. aureus isolates were resistant to more than three antibiotics. The mutations in the rifampicin resistance-determining region of the rpoB gene were studied in all RIF-R strains. All of the strains presented the mutational change 481 His/Asn and five isolates presented an additional mutation, including 477 Asp/Tyr, 527 Ile/Met, and 466 Leu/Ser, respectively. Thirteen STs and twenty-one spa types were represented, in which five MRSA showed non-type SCCmec and the remaining MRSA belonged to SCCmec type IV—where, ST1-t127 was the predominant type from all of the isolates, while ST398-t034 was the predominant type for the MRSA isolates. In this study, we found that the food-related RIF-R S. aureus may have a unique genetic background selection. However, the scenario regarding the presence of RIF-R S. aureus, especially MRSA, in retail food in China is not favorable and warrants public attention.

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