Table 1. S. aureus strains used in this study.

MRSA, methicillin-resistant S. aureus

Strain	Relevant genotype or description	Source or reference
RN6390	NCTC8325 derivative, rbsU, tcaR, cured of φ11, φ12, φ13	[54]
COL	Healthcare acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA)	[55, 56]
USA300	Community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA)	[57]
10.1252.X	ST398-like isolate. Livestock-associated	Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, UK
MRSA252	HA-MRSA, representative of Epidemic MRSA-16	[58]
HO 5096 0412	HA-MRSA, representative of Epidemic MRSA-15	[59]