Detection of icaA and icaD genes in slime producing Staphylococcus aureus isolates from buffaloes with subclinical mastitis

Abstract

One of the common cause of subclinical mastitis is Staphylococcus aureus. Slime production is an important virulence factor for S. aureus. In current study, total 84 milk samples pooled from all quarters were collected from buffaloes. Out of 84 samples, 62 milk samples had somatic cell count more than 0.25 million/ml and all of them were positive on bacteriological culture. S. aureus was isolated from only 41 samples and all 41 samples were genotypically confirmed by 23S rRNA based ribotyping method. All 41 isolates (100%) produced slime on Congo Red agar and both icaA and icaD genes were detected in all of them. The present study showed high percentage of slime producing Staphylococcus aureus isolates from subclinical mastitis in buffalo. Controlling of subclinical mastitis in buffalo can be challenging due to presence of such slime producing bacteria.