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. 2014 Dec 5;9(12):e114276. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114276

Table 3. Distribution of agr groups (alleles) and presence of virulence genes among SAB isolates from four different time periods.

Virulence gene Gene product Numbers of isolates with the indicated gene in each time period Decadal changes
Agr group 1980-81 n = 100 1990-91 n = 100 2000 n = 100 2010 n = 100 IRR (95% CI)1 p-value2
agr I3 Accessory gene regulator I 50 52 52 46 0.98 (0.86–1.19) 0.704
agr II4 Accessory gene regulator II 11 22 22 33 1.36 (1.12–165) 0.002
agr III5 Accessory gene regulator III 36 23 22 19 0.81 (0.68–0.97) 0.021
agr IV6 Accessory gene regulator IV 3 3 4 2 0.94 (0.56–1.55) 0.796
Exo-polysaccharides
cap5 Capsular polysaccharide 5 46 24 11 28 0.78 (0.66–0.93) 0.004
cap8 Capsular polysaccharide 8 54 76 89 72 1.10 (0.99–1.22) 0.079
MSCRAMMs
cna Collagen binding adhesin 54 62 73 52 1.01 (0.90–1.13) 0.885
sasG S. aureus surface protein G 29 36 28 50 1.17 (1.01–1.35) 0.040
Exotoxins
Leukocidins
lukF, lukS, hlgA γ-toxin 100 100 100 100
lukF-PV, lukS-PV Panton-Valentine leukotoxin 4 1 0 2 0.75 (0.38–1.48) 0.404
lukD, lukE 7 Leukocidin D, E component 52 44 34 58 1.02 (0.90–1.16) 0.794
Haemolysins 8
hla α-toxin 80 (8)14 99 99 (1)14 100 1.04 (0.95–1.14) 0.382
hld δ-toxin 100 100 100 100
Exfoliative toxins
etA Exfoliative toxin A 5 4 6 2 0.85 (0.55–1.30) 0.449
etB Exfoliative toxin B 0 0 0 1
etD Exfoliative toxin D 17 6 1 3 0.44 (0.28–0.68) <0.001
Enterotoxins
sea Staphylococcal enterotoxin A 32 20 13 19 0.80 (0.66–0.97) 0.026
sea(N315)9 Staphylococcal enterotoxin A, allele from N315 1 7 7 15 1.86 (1.28–2.69) 0.001
seb Staphylococcal enterotoxin B 8 (2)14 6 (3)14 5 (6)14 6 (1)14 0.89 (0.63–1.27) 0.530
sec+sel Staphylococcal enterotoxin C+L 10 17 26 17 1.19 (0.96–1.47) 0.110
sed+sej+ser Staphylococcal enterotoxin D+J+R 15 9 4 4 0.60 (0.43–0.85) 0.004
see Staphylococcal enterotoxin E 2 0 (1)14 0 0
egc-cluster 10 Staphylococcal enterotoxin G+I+M+N+O+U 71 70 76 57 0.95 (0.85–1.05) 0.331
seh Staphylococcal enterotoxin H 6 2 4 6 1.05 (0.69–1.58) 0.833
sek+seq Staphylococcal enterotoxin K+Q 2 3 1 8 1.63 (0.97–2.73) 0.064
tst1 Toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST)-1 25 18 13 15 0.82 (0.66–1.01) 0.065
Enzymes
aur Aureolysin 100 100 100 100
splA 11 /splB 12 Serine Protease A, B 52 44 34 58 1.02 (0.90–1.16) 0.079
splE Serine Protease E 78 56 42 54 0.86 (0.77–0.97) 0.011
Miscellaneous genes
edinB Epidermal Cell differentiation inhibitor B 17 6 1 3 0.44 (0.28–0.68) <0.001
setC 13 Staphylococcal exotoxin-like protein 62 (1)14 66 (4)14 77 (1)14 83 (3)14 1.11 (1.00–1.23) 0.050
1

Incident rate ratio estimated with Poisson regression analysis.

2

Poisson regression analysis.

3

CC6, CC7, CC8, CC20, CC22, CC25, CC45, CC59, CC97, CC101, CC182, CC188, CC395, CC398, ST2319.

4

CC5, CC9, CC12, CC15, CC49.

5

CC1, CC30, including CC30 (ST34/42).

6

CC50, CC121.

7

Three isolates in CC20 and 6 isolates in CC395 were negative for lukD, but positive for lukE; results were counted for lukE.

8

The haemolysin gene hlb was excluded from the analysis on the grounds of poor probe performance, which yielded several ambiguous results.

9

Also known as enterotoxin sep.

10

Seven isolates in CC50 showed a partial deletion of the egc cluster missing seg.

11

Locus tag SACOL1057, GenBank CP000046.1: Position 1063016–1064026.

12

Locus tag SACOL1056, GenBank CP000046.1: Position 1061753–1062934.

13

Locus tag SACOL1970, GenBank CP000046.1: Position 2034319–2035485.

14

Numbers in brackets show the number of ambiguous results, which were not included

Bold values are statistically significant.