Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1990 Mar;28(3):447–451. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.3.447-451.1990

Encapsulation of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from mastitic milk: relationship between capsular polysaccharide types 5 and 8 and colony morphology in serum-soft agar, clumping factor, teichoic acid, and protein A.

L Sutra 1, C Mendolia 1, P Rainard 1, B Poutrel 1
PMCID: PMC269641  PMID: 2324272

Abstract

A total of 193 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine, caprine, and ovine mastitis producing type 5 or 8 capsular polysaccharides were investigated for colony morphology in serum-soft agar and agglutinability by an anti-teichoic acid serum, after cultivation in modified staphylococcus medium no. 110. Also, 40 of these strains were cultivated in brain heart infusion and submitted to clumping factor and protein A detection tests. Considering capsular serotyping as a reference method, diffuse growth in serum-soft agar and inagglutinability by anti-teichoic acid serum identified, respectively, 57.5 and 45% of encapsulated strains cultivated in brain heart infusion and 85.5 and 77.2% of those cultivated in modified staphylococcus medium 110. Consequently, these indirect techniques underestimated encapsulation and were greatly influenced by culture conditions. Whatever the medium used, diffuse colony morphology in serum-soft agar was generally characterized by a masking of teichoic acid and protein A. By contrast, these surface antigens were detected in association with compact morphology; the presence of a thin or discontinuous capsular material could explain this result. Moreover, the masking of teichoic acid and the removal of capsular polysaccharide by washing in saline suggest that type 8 capsular polysaccharide is more abundant and labile than type 5.

Full text

PDF
447

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson J. C. Absence of encapsulation in strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis. Res Vet Sci. 1984 Nov;37(3):359–361. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arbeit R. D., Karakawa W. W., Vann W. F., Robbins J. B. Predominance of two newly described capsular polysaccharide types among clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1984 Apr;2(2):85–91. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(84)90002-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DUGUID J. P. The demonstration of bacterial capsules and slime. J Pathol Bacteriol. 1951 Oct;63(4):673–685. doi: 10.1002/path.1700630413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Forsum U., Forsgren A., Hjelm E. Role of protein A in the serum-soft agar technique. Infect Immun. 1972 Oct;6(4):583–586. doi: 10.1128/iai.6.4.583-586.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fournier J. M., Vann W. F., Karakawa W. W. Purification and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus type 8 capsular polysaccharide. Infect Immun. 1984 Jul;45(1):87–93. doi: 10.1128/iai.45.1.87-93.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hochkeppel H. K., Braun D. G., Vischer W., Imm A., Sutter S., Staeubli U., Guggenheim R., Kaplan E. L., Boutonnier A., Fournier J. M. Serotyping and electron microscopy studies of Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates with monoclonal antibodies to capsular polysaccharide types 5 and 8. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Mar;25(3):526–530. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.3.526-530.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Karakawa W. W., Fournier J. M., Vann W. F., Arbeit R., Schneerson R. S., Robbins J. B. Method for the serological typing of the capsular polysaccharides of Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 Sep;22(3):445–447. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.3.445-447.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Karakawa W. W., Sutton A., Schneerson R., Karpas A., Vann W. F. Capsular antibodies induce type-specific phagocytosis of capsulated Staphylococcus aureus by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Infect Immun. 1988 May;56(5):1090–1095. doi: 10.1128/iai.56.5.1090-1095.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Norcross N. L., Opdebeeck J. P. Encapsulation of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine milk. Vet Microbiol. 1983 Aug;8(4):397–404. doi: 10.1016/0378-1135(83)90052-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Opdebeeck J. P., Frost A. J., O'Boyle D., Norcross N. L. The expression of capsule in serum-soft agar by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis. Vet Microbiol. 1987 Mar;13(3):225–234. doi: 10.1016/0378-1135(87)90085-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Opdebeeck J. P., Norcross N. L. Frequency and immunologic cross-reactivity of encapsulated Staphylococcus aureus in bovine milk in New York. Am J Vet Res. 1983 Jun;44(6):986–988. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Opdebeeck J. P., O'Boyle D. A., Frost A. J. Encapsulated Staphylococcus aureus from bovine mastitis. Aust Vet J. 1988 Jun;65(6):194–195. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1988.tb14303.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Opdebeeck J. P., O'Boyle D., Frost A. J. The expression of capsule in serum-soft agar by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from human clinical sources. J Med Microbiol. 1985 Oct;20(2):275–278. doi: 10.1099/00222615-20-2-275. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Paape M. J., Wergin W. P., Guidry A. J., Pearson R. E. Leukocytes--second line of defense against invading mastitis pathogens. J Dairy Sci. 1979 Jan;62(1):135–153. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(79)83215-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Poutrel B., Boutonnier A., Sutra L., Fournier J. M. Prevalence of capsular polysaccharide types 5 and 8 among Staphylococcus aureus isolates from cow, goat, and ewe milk. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Jan;26(1):38–40. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.1.38-40.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Poutrel B., Ducelliez M. Evaluation of three rapid tests for identification of Staphylococcus aureus isolated in bovine milk. Ann Rech Vet. 1979;10(1):125–129. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rather P. N., Davis A. P., Wilkinson B. J. Slime production by bovine milk Staphylococcus aureus and identification of coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 May;23(5):858–862. doi: 10.1128/jcm.23.5.858-862.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Smith M. R., Yoshida K., Naito Y. Use of the Clumping Factor Reaction for the Identification of Encapsulated Strains of Staphylococcus aureus from Human Sources. Infect Immun. 1971 May;3(5):707–708. doi: 10.1128/iai.3.5.707-708.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sompolinsky D., Samra Z., Karakawa W. W., Vann W. F., Schneerson R., Malik Z. Encapsulation and capsular types in isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from different sources and relationship to phage types. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 Nov;22(5):828–834. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.5.828-834.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Yokomizo Y., Isayama Y., Takahashi M., Yoshida K. Isolation of encapsulated strains of Staphylococcus aureus from bovine mastitis milk. Res Vet Sci. 1977 Mar;22(2):158–160. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Yoshida K., Ekstedt R. D. Relation of mucoid growth of Staphylococcus aureus to clumping factor reaction, morphology in serum-soft agar, and virulence. J Bacteriol. 1968 Oct;96(4):902–908. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.4.902-908.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Yoshida K., Ohtomo T., Minegishi Y. Mechanism of compact-colony formation by strains of Staphylococcus aureus in serum soft agar. J Gen Microbiol. 1977 Jan;98(1):67–75. doi: 10.1099/00221287-98-1-67. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Yoshida K., Takahashi M., Takeuchi Y. Pseudocompact-type growth and conversion of growth types of strains of Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and in vivo. J Bacteriol. 1969 Oct;100(1):162–166. doi: 10.1128/jb.100.1.162-166.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES