MUROLYTOGRAPHY: A NEW PEPTIDOGLYCAN ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE FOR S. AUREUS EPIDEMIOLOGY

Abstract

We have demonstrated interstrain differences among clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus by analyzing the breakdown products of their peptidoglycans, a technique we call "murolytography". Interstrain differences were demonstrated both in products liberated by endogenous autolysins and in products released by exogenous murolytic enzymes. Complementary analyses of the products were accomplished by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with the demonstration of strain-specific patterns ("murolytograms"). TLC murolytograms proved more convenient for the analysis of products released by endogenous autolysins while the higher molecular weight products generated by exogenous enzymes were better separated by SDS-PAGE techniques.

We have studied a number of clinical isolates of S. aureus including strains from four hospital outbreaks. Whereas strains collected at random showed a variety of different murolytograms when processed under identical conditions, strains isolated from the same epidemic showed identical murolytograms. Those epidemic strains sharing a murolytogram shared a common phage type and/or methicillin resistance as well. Murolytography is rapidly performed and avoids the delays associated with phage typing at external laboratories. It is of particular use to the hospital epidemiologist in the study of staphylococci, organisms whose antibiotograms are seldom distinctive.

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