Clonal Flux and Spread of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Meat and Its Genetic Relatedness to Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Patients in Saudi Arabia

Dalal M Alkuraythi; Manal M Alkhulaifi; Abdulwahab Z Binjomah; Mohammed Alarwi; Hind M Aldakhil; Mohammed I Mujallad; Saleh Ali Alharbi; Mohammad Alshomrani; Saeed Mastour Alshahrani; Takashi Gojobori; Sulaiman M Alajel

doi:10.3390/microorganisms11122926

Clonal Flux and Spread of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Meat and Its Genetic Relatedness to Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Patients in Saudi Arabia

Microorganisms. 2023 Dec 6;11(12):2926. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11122926.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 23445, Saudi Arabia.
³ Microbiology Department, Riyadh Regional Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 12746, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ College of Medicine, AL-Faisal University, Takhassusi Street, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Computational Bioscience Research Center, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Food and Drug Authority, Jeddah 22235, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Public Health, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 62529, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Reference Laboratory for Microbiology, Executive Department for Reference Laboratories, Research and Laboratories Sector, Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh 12843, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated both meat-derived and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), exploring their genetic relatedness to patient-derived MRSA isolates in Saudi Arabia. We collected 250 meat samples and identified 53 S. aureus isolates, with 79% being methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and 21% being MRSA. Moreover, we included 80 clinically confirmed patient-derived MRSA isolates. We identified the most common S. aureus clone in both patients and retail meat. In meat, ST6 and ST97 were the most common clones in 55% of the MRSA isolates, and ST1153 and ST672 were the most common in 21% and 17% of the MSSA isolates. In patients, ST5 and ST6 were the predominant clones in 46% of the S. aureus isolates. CC5/ST5-SCCmecVc-t311 and CC361/ST672-SCCmecV-t3841 were common MRSA clones in both meat and patients. CC97 and CC361 clones were the second most prevalent S. aureus clones in meat and were relatively common in patients. Furthermore, we sequenced and characterized novel S. aureus strains ST8109, ST8110, and ST8111. The genomic similarities between meat- and patient-derived S. aureus isolates suggest that retail meat might be a reservoir for S.aureus and MRSA transmission. Therefore, a structured One Health approach is recommended for S. aureus dissemination, genetic characterization, antibiotic resistance, and impact on human health.

Keywords: MLST; MRSA genetic characteristics; One Health approach; Staphylococcus aureus; clonal lineages; retail meat; spa types.

Grants and funding

This research was supported and partially funded by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thwal, Saudi Arabia.