Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of human bacterial infections; however, humans can also be asymptomatically colonized with S. aureus. Asymptomatic carriers can potentially spread S. aureus infection to others. These infections can range from mild to severe. The pathology of a S. aureus infection is often dependent on which toxins are expressed and the virulence factors with which they are associated. One goal of this study was to isolate S. aureus from healthy, consenting adult volunteers who submitted nasal swabs for culture and qRT-PCR analysis to determine which strains are present in the community. This knowledge could potentially lead to more informed treatment options when S. aureus infection is suspected. PCR-based subtyping was utilized to test for the presence of fifteen toxin genes: lukAB, lukED, pvl, hlgA, hlgC, tst, eta, hla, hlb, hld, sea, seb, sec, sed, and see. Isolates were also tested for the presence of the mecA gene, which encodes for methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus.
This study was the first to attempt to identify which genes were present across all six classes of Staphylococcal toxins in community-colonized strains of S. aureus. We have laid the path toward identifying what kind of S. aureus isolates are present in our community. Further analysis using next-generation genome sequencing and spa typing will need to be utilized to compare the community strains of S. aureus isolated in this study to known disease-causing isolates from the hospital to discern if there is a correlation between the two.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> is the most common cause of human bacterial infections; however, humans can also be asymptomatically colonized with <em>S. aureus</em>. Asymptomatic carriers can potentially spread <em>S. aureus</em> infection to others. These infections can range from mild to severe. The pathology of a <em>S. aureus</em> infection is often dependent on which toxins are expressed and the virulence factors with which they are associated. One goal of this study was to isolate <em>S. aureus</em> from healthy, consenting adult volunteers who submitted nasal swabs for culture and qRT-PCR analysis to determine which strains are present in the community. This knowledge could potentially lead to more informed treatment options when <em>S. aureus </em>infection is suspected. PCR-based subtyping was utilized to test for the presence of fifteen toxin genes: <em>lukAB, lukED, pvl, hlgA, hlgC, tst, eta, hla, hlb, hld, sea, seb, sec, sed, </em>and <em>see.</em> Isolates were also tested for the presence of the <em>mecA</em> gene, which encodes for methicillin-resistant strains of <em>S. aureus. </em></p> <p>This study was the first to attempt to identify which genes were present across all six classes of <em>Staphylococcal</em> toxins in community-colonized strains of <em>S. aureus</em>. We have laid the path toward identifying what kind of <em>S. aureus</em> isolates are present in our community. Further analysis using next-generation genome sequencing and <em>spa</em> typing will need to be utilized to compare the community strains of <em>S. aureus</em> isolated in this study to known disease-causing isolates from the hospital to discern if there is a correlation between the two.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kessel, Carol I"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Josh Sharp"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:47Z","subjects":["staphylococcus","staphylococcus aureus","aureus","isolates","toxins","genes","Bacterial Infections and Mycoses","Bacteriology","Biology","Pathogenic Microbiology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/133","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Josh Sharp"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kessel, Carol I"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-04-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["staphylococcus","staphylococcus aureus","aureus","isolates","toxins","genes","Bacterial Infections and Mycoses","Bacteriology","Biology","Pathogenic Microbiology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/133"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of human bacterial infections; however, humans can also be asymptomatically colonized with S. aureus. Asymptomatic carriers can potentially spread S. aureus infection to others. These infections can range from mild to severe. The pathology of a S. aureus infection is often dependent on which toxins are expressed and the virulence factors with which they are associated. One goal of this study was to isolate S. aureus from healthy, consenting adult volunteers who submitted nasal swabs for culture and qRT-PCR analysis to determine which strains are present in the community. This knowledge could potentially lead to more informed treatment options when S. aureus infection is suspected. PCR-based subtyping was utilized to test for the presence of fifteen toxin genes: lukAB, lukED, pvl, hlgA, hlgC, tst, eta, hla, hlb, hld, sea, seb, sec, sed, and see. Isolates were also tested for the presence of the mecA gene, which encodes for methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus.
This study was the first to attempt to identify which genes were present across all six classes of Staphylococcal toxins in community-colonized strains of S. aureus. We have laid the path toward identifying what kind of S. aureus isolates are present in our community. Further analysis using next-generation genome sequencing and spa typing will need to be utilized to compare the community strains of S. aureus isolated in this study to known disease-causing isolates from the hospital to discern if there is a correlation between the two.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["MOLECULAR SUBTYPING OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATES FROM THE U.P. COMMUNITY FOR THE PRESENCE OF TOXIN-ENCODING GENES"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Josh Sharp"],"dc:creator":["Kessel, Carol I"],"dc:date.available":["2017-04-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of human bacterial infections; however, humans can also be asymptomatically colonized with S. aureus. Asymptomatic carriers can potentially spread S. aureus infection to others. These infections can range from mild to severe. The pathology of a S. aureus infection is often dependent on which toxins are expressed and the virulence factors with which they are associated. One goal of this study was to isolate S. aureus from healthy, consenting adult volunteers who submitted nasal swabs for culture and qRT-PCR analysis to determine which strains are present in the community. This knowledge could potentially lead to more informed treatment options when S. aureus infection is suspected. PCR-based subtyping was utilized to test for the presence of fifteen toxin genes: lukAB, lukED, pvl, hlgA, hlgC, tst, eta, hla, hlb, hld, sea, seb, sec, sed, and see. Isolates were also tested for the presence of the mecA gene, which encodes for methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus.
This study was the first to attempt to identify which genes were present across all six classes of Staphylococcal toxins in community-colonized strains of S. aureus. We have laid the path toward identifying what kind of S. aureus isolates are present in our community. Further analysis using next-generation genome sequencing and spa typing will need to be utilized to compare the community strains of S. aureus isolated in this study to known disease-causing isolates from the hospital to discern if there is a correlation between the two.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/133"],"dc:subject":["staphylococcus","staphylococcus aureus","aureus","isolates","toxins","genes","Bacterial Infections and Mycoses","Bacteriology","Biology","Pathogenic Microbiology"],"dc:title":["MOLECULAR SUBTYPING OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATES FROM THE U.P. COMMUNITY FOR THE PRESENCE OF TOXIN-ENCODING GENES"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:47Z"}