Separation of methicillin-resistant from methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus by electrophoretic methods in fused silica capillaries etched with supercritical water

Anal Chem. 2014 Oct 7;86(19):9701-8. doi: 10.1021/ac502254f. Epub 2014 Sep 23.

Abstract

Identification and prevention of Staphylococcus aureus-caused infections may benefit from a fast and dependable method to distinguish between the methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) S. aureus strains. The current methods involving polymerase chain reaction and/or other molecular tests are usually laborious and time-consuming. We describe here a fast and low-cost method employing capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) to distinguish between MRSA and MSSA. The method makes use of a supercritical water-treated fused silica capillary, the inner surface of which has subsequently been modified with (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane. With optimized proportions of suitable additives to the background electrolyte, a CZE separation of MRSA from MSSA may be completed within 12 min. The cells were baseline-resolved, and resolution was determined to be 3.61. The isoelectric points of MSSA and MRSA were found to be the same for both groups of these strains, pI = 3.4.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electrophoresis, Capillary / methods*
  • Methicillin Resistance*
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects*

Substances

  • Silicon Dioxide