Detection of Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Real-time PCR

OBJECTIVE To establish a method of real-time PCR for detection of mecA gene in meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA).METHODS The experiment conditions including Mg2+ concentrations,primers concentrations and probe concentrations were optimized for real-time PCR in the light of factorial design principle.Totally 109 strains of S.aureus were collected and detected respectively in oxacillin disk diffusion method and real-time PCR and MRSA detection rate in the two methods were compared and analyzed.RESULTS Thirty seven MRSA isolates were detected by real-time PCR from the 109 S.aureus strains.The MRSA isolating rate by real-time PCR was conspicuously higher than oxacillin disk diffusion method,by which 27 MRSA isolates were detected.CONCLUSIONS The technology of real-time PCR to rapid identification of MRSA is superior to common PCR and it can make up the deficiency of detecting borderline-resistant strains in oxacillin disk diffusion method.