Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is recognised worldwide as an important pathogen causing contagious acute and chronic bovine mastitis. Chronic mastitis account for a significant part of all bovine cases and represent an important economic problem for dairy producers. Several properties (biofilm formation, intracellular survival, capsular expression and group agr) are thought to be associated with this chronic status. In a previous study, we found the existence of two groups of strains based on the association of these features. The aim of the present work was to confirm on a large international and non-related collection of strains the existence of these clusters and to associate them with case history records. In addition, the genomes of eight strains were sequenced to study the genomic differences between strains of each cluster. The results confirmed the existence of both groups based on capsular typing, intracellular survival and agr-typing: strains cap8-positive, belonging to agr group II, showing a low invasion rate and strains cap5-positive, belonging to agr group I, showing a high invasion rate. None of the two clusters were associated with the chronic status of the cow. When comparing the genomes of strains belonging to both clusters, the genes specific to the group "cap5-agrI" would suggest that these strains are better adapted to live in hostile environment. The existence of these two groups is highly important as they may represent two clusters that are adapted differently to the host and/or the surrounding environment.
Keywords: Biofilm; Bovine mastitis; Capsule; Intracellular survival; Persistence; Staphylococcus aureus.
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