VIRULENCE POTENTIAL OF S. aureus ISOLATED FROM IMPORTED AND LOCAL CHICKEN DEPENDING ON THE PHENOL SOLUBLE MODULINS (PSMMEC) IN DUHOK PROVINCE, KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ

Staphylococcus aureus is considered as one of the major foodborne pathogens in humanand animals which can lead to a wide range of diseases, including food poisoning. The toxins ofS. aureus play an important role in disease pathogenesis, contributing to both injury of the hosttissues and the immune response. One of these toxins is phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) peptideswhich has the ability of immune invasion and considered as a cytolytic toxin. Commonly, mobilegenetic elements (MGE) of S. aureus that carrying antibiotic resistance gene do not carry thevirulence genes, however, PSMmec has been identified within the methicillin resistancestaphylococcus-encoding MGE SCCmec. This study was conducted for six months, over-all 200whole chicken carcasses were collected including (100) local chicken and (100) imported onefrom supermarkets in Duhok province. The samples for S. aureus were cultured on mannitol saltagar and then were confirmed using colony morphology, biochemical test like, catalase test andcoagulase test, in addition to the species specific primer (nuc gene) for PCR. The PCR positivesamples were selected and used in this study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the virulencepotential of S. aureus isolated from imported and local chickens depending on PSMmec-complexPCR (spanning PSM, xylR and mecR genes) and mecA. The results of this study shows that 46isolates out of 57 from imported chickens were carried mecA (methicillin resistant isolates) from these 28 isolates harbored PSMmec gene. Regarding to the local chicken, only 2 isolates out of18 carries together both PSMmec and mecA. According to the PSM-complex tested in this study,S. aureus isolates from imported chickens have SCCmec elements (SCCmec, II (2A) and IID,while the local chicken isolates have just SCCmec IID. Isolates resistance to methicillin withPSM may contribute to staphylococcal virulence. The outcomes of present study suggest thatisolates from imported chicken were more virulent comparing with local isolates. This studyneeds further confirmation by amplification of SCC elements and sequencing them to determinethe proper genetic structures of these regions.