Leukotoxin and pyrogenic toxin Superantigen gene backgrounds in bloodstream and wound Staphylococcus aureus isolates from eastern region of China

BACKGROUND: The bicomponent leukotoxins and the pyrogenic toxin superantigens (PTSAgs) are important virulence factors of Staphylococcus aureus. It is necessary to survey the prevalence and expression of these toxin-encoding genes for understanding the possible pathogenic capacity of S. aureus to cause disease. METHODS: Five leukotoxin genes and thirteen PTSAg determinants were detected for 177 S. aureus isolates from blood (n = 88) and wound (n = 89) infections by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The expression of leukotoxin ED (lukED) was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The genetic backgrounds of isolates were analyzed by Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing (for methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates), Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), accessory gene regulator (agr) typing and Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST, for representative isolates based on PFGE type) methods. RESULTS: 99.4% (176/177) isolates contained at least one of leukotoxin genes. Among them, 94.9% (168/177), 81.4% (144/177) and 67.8% (120/177) isolates harbored hlgBC, lukED and lukAB, respectively. Compared to leukotoxin genes, there was a relatively lower overall prevalence of PTSAg genes [99.4% versus 72.9% (129/177), P < 0.001], and they were organized in 59 patterns, with the most common combination of the egc cluster with or without other PTSAg genes. Genetic analysis showed the distributions of certain toxin genes were associated with the genetic backgrounds of isolates. The egc cluster was a common feature of CC5 isolates, among which ST5 and ST764 isolates harbored more PTSAg genes. The lukED was not present in ST398 isolates, and its expression was quite different among isolates. No significant correlations were observed between the lukED expression levels of strains and the ST or agr types. CONCLUSIONS: The present study elucidated the distribution of leukotoxin and PTSAg genes and the expression of lukED in blood and wound isolates, and analyzed the relationship between them with genetic characteristics of isolates. These data improve the current understanding of the possible pathogenicity of S. aureus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-018-3297-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.