Genotyping of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from bovine mastitis in Turkey by using ERIC-PCR method

Mastitis is an intramammary infection that leads to important economic losses in dairy industry such as increasing the amount of waste milk by affecting the quality and quantity of the milk, removing cows from herd or sending them for slaughter early. Staphylococcus aureus has an important place in the fight against mastitis. In this study, it is aimed to genotyping of the 98 S. aureus isolates that were isolated from bovine mastitis by the polymerase chain reaction of enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR). ERIC primers generated DNA products in sizes ranging between ∼8000 bp and 250 bp. According to the Nei homology, a dendrograme was obtained by the assessment of 28 bands in total. ERIC-PCR grouped 98 S. aureus isolates into this clusters (I-VI) showing 64 ERIC genotypes. This method, which enables the S. aureus strains to be described and classified successfully, could be used in forming a database by formulation of genotypes, determining the origin of the epidemic, studies of vaccine development and developing effective protection strategies against mastitis since it is easy, fast and reliable. At the same time, this study would contribute to the comprehension of S. aureus epidemiology and ecology in dairy herds.