Prevalence of staphylococcal enterotoxins, toxin genes and genetic-relatedness of foodborne Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in the Marmara Region of Turkey

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a major foodborne pathogen and it has the ability to produce a number of extracellular toxins. We analyzed 1070 food samples obtained from retail markets and dairy farms in the Marmara Region of Turkey for the presence of S. aureus. Out of 147 isolates, 92 (62.6%) were enterotoxigenic. PCR was used to investigate the presence of staphylococcal enterotoxin genes (sea, seb, sec, sed, see, seg, seh, sei, sej, sek, sel, sem, sen, seo, sep, seq and seu), exfoliative toxin genes (eta and etb) and the toxic − shock syndrome toxin gene (tst). The PCR results showed that 53.3% of the isolates contained staphylococcal enterotoxin-like (SEl) toxin genes (seg, seh, sei, sej, sek, sel, sem, sen, seo, sep, seq and seu) which were more frequent than classical enterotoxin genes (sea to see). Furthermore, seo, sei, sem, seg, seu and sec were found in 37. 0, 32.7, 30.4, 29.3, 29.3 and 27.2% of the isolates, respectively. The tst gene was detected and confirmed by DNA sequencing in 9 isolates. The presence of eta and etb were not found in the isolates. Enterotoxigenic capabilities of isolates with SEA-SEE were investigated by ELISA. Enterotoxigenic S. aureus isolates produced one to three enterotoxins, with the most frequently produced types being enterotoxin A and C. There was a correlation of 72.1% between production of a specific toxin and the presence of the respective genes. PFGE analysis was used to identify genetic-relatedness of enterotoxigenic S. aureus isolates and the results revealed that 13 groups of isolates from different or the same origin that contained the same genes showed 100% homology with indistinguishable band patterns. The other enterotoxigenic isolates showed related band patterns with 72-86% homology in sea-, 61-90% homology in sec-, 80-96% homology in seh-, and 69-96% homology in sep-positive isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine enterotoxins and related gene contents of S. aureus food isolates in the Marmara Region of Turkey.

Prevalence and antibiogram study of Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus in poultry meat

“…It reduces markedly social and economic productivity of the countries [3] . Amongst the foodborne pathogens, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are the most common and frequent pathogens responsible for food poisoning and food related infections [4,5] . Salmonella enterica is a leading cause of enteric diseases in human and animal with millions of illness worldwide, whereas the nontyphoidal Salmonella species as a zoonotic agent are also predominantly associated with foodborne infections [2,6,7] .…”

“…S. aureus is responsible for causing a variety of animal diseases such as mastitis, arthritis and urinary tract infections and a prominent cause of food poisoning due to poor hygienic practices. S. aureus related food poisoning is the third largest cause of food related illness worldwide [5,12,13] . Enterotoxin production is the lethal weapon of this pathogen.…”

“…Enterotoxin production is the lethal weapon of this pathogen. Its food poisoning is commonly associated with fresh and ready-to-eat foods particularly meat products [5] . It is more difficult to treat multidrug resistant S. aureus as compare to drug susceptible strains.…”

The effect of temperature and Pasteurization time on Staphylococcus aureus isolates from dairy products

“…This is evidenced by the presence of several typical food poisonings occurring in some countries. [2][3] In addition to the coagulase enzyme, enterotoxin is a toxin produced by S. aureus strains. One of these enterotoxins is enterotoxin A which is commonly produced by S. aureus.…”

“…One of these enterotoxins is enterotoxin A which is commonly produced by S. aureus. 2 Its ability to withstand high temperatures is one of the causes of poisoning in food products, especially milk. Milk is a good nutrient for growing S. aureus and producing enterotoxins.…”