Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Three Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Strains from Dogs and Humans in Egypt.

Abstract

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is an opportunistic pathogen that is largely associated with canine hosts but is becoming more widely recognized as a zoonotic pathogen. Understanding its genetic and phenotypic properties, such as virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles, is critical for infection control and vaccine development. In this study, we isolated and molecularly characterized three S. pseudintermedius isolates from dogs (hereafter referred to as S. pseudintermedius D8) and humans (hereafter referred to as S. pseudintermedius H10 and S. pseudintermedius H11) in Egypt. All three isolates showed 100% sequence identity with the nuc gene of the S. pseudintermedius SP_11304-3A reference genome. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed novel sequence types (STs) in the three isolates. The AMR determinants varied substantially among the isolates. While the mecA gene was absent, blaZ was detected in the canine isolate, indicating beta-lactamase-mediated penicillin resistance. Additionally, tetK and tetM genes were found conferring tetracycline resistance in different isolates. Resistance genes for aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, fusidic acid, macrolides, streptothricin, and trimethoprim were also identified. All isolates were positive for key virulence genes, including immune evasion (AdsA), coagulase (coa), immunoglobulin-binding protein (sbi/spsK), exfoliative toxin (speta), enterotoxins (se-int and siet), fibrinogen binding protein gene (fnbB), and two-component pore-forming leukocidin genes (lukF and lukS). The S. pseudintermedius H11 isolate uniquely harbored the neuraminidase gene (nanB), while none of the isolates contained the gene coding for immunoglobulin G binding protein (spsQ). These findings highlight the differences in virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes among these S. pseudintermedius isolates, underlining the need for global surveillance and molecular characterization of this pathogen.