Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization with MALDI-TOF-MS Based Identification of Staphylococcus spp. Isolated from Mobile Phones with their Antibiotic Susceptibility, Biofilm Formation, and Adhesion Properties

Emira Noumi, Abderrahmen Merghni, Mousa Alreshidi, Rosa Del Campo, Mohd Adnan, Ons Haddad, Vincenzo De Feo and Mejdi Snoussi
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Emira Noumi: Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Ha’il, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Abderrahmen Merghni: Laboratory of Antimicrobial Resistance (LR99ES09), Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis 1007,Tunisia
Mousa Alreshidi: Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Ha’il, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Rosa Del Campo: Servicio de Microbiología, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria 14 (IRYCIS), Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Carretera de Colmenar, 28034 Madrid, Spain
Mohd Adnan: Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Ha’il, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Ons Haddad: Laboratoire de Microbiologie, CHU Fattouma Bourguiba de Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia
Vincenzo De Feo: Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, Fisciano, 18, 84084 Salerno, Italy
Mejdi Snoussi: Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Ha’il, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Cell phones, smartphones, and tablets are extensively used in social and professional life, so they are frequently exposed to bacteria. The main goal of the present work was to isolate and characterize Staphylococci strains from students’ cell phone mobiles. Subsequently, 24 Staphylococci strains were tested against a wide range of antibiotics, for the distribution of some virulence-related genes and their ability to form biofilm. Staphylococcus spp. were cultured from all studied devices on chromogenic medium and identified using the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI), time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) technique (MALDI-TOF-MS). The results obtained showed that S. aureus was the dominant species (19 strains, 79.1%), followed by S. warneri (3 strains, 12.5%), and S. haemolyticus (2 strains, 8.3%). Isolated strains showed high percentages of hydrolytic enzymes production, resistance to many tested antibiotics, and 37.5% expressed the mecA gene. The tested strains were highly adhesive to polystyrene and glass and expressed implicated icaA (62.5%) and icaD (66.6%) genes. All Staphylococcus spp. strains tested were found to possess proteases and the α-hemolysin gene. Our results highlighted the importance of mobile phones as a great source of Staphylococcus spp., and these species were found to be resistant to many antibiotics with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index ranging from (0.444) to (0.812). Most of the studied strains are able to form biofilm and expressed many virulence genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the phenotypic and genetic characters highlighted the phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity of the S. aureus population studied. Further analyses are needed to elucidate the human health risks associated with the identified Staphylococci strains.

Keywords: mobile phone; MRSA; Staphylococcus; virulence genes; antibiotic resistance; biofilm; MALDI-TOF-MS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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