Distribution of collagen adhesin gene among various types of Staphylococcus aureus strains associated with bovine mammary gland

Abstract

A subset of 58 bovine mastitis-associated Staphylococcus aureus isolates with known coa types were investigated for the presence of collagen adhesin gene, cna. According to the enzyme restriction pattern of gene encoding coagulase, strains were divided into nine genotypes. All isolates were investigated by PCR for the presence of gene encoding Cna, which was considered as an important virulence factor associated with bacteria adhesion. Interestingly, 49 (84. 5%) strains were found to be cna+ with significant variations across the predominant and rare genotypes. According to the results of this study, it might be emphasized that cna is significantly more common in bovine mastitis-associated S. aureus isolates and distributed dependently between genotypes. The finding that collagen-adhesin is present in the majority of the bovine mastitis-associated S. aureus isolates encourages the development of new strategies to prevent mastitis, based on antagonist ligands able to interact with surface adhesin and block its specific binding with matrix collagen. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited.