Staphylococcus pseudintermedius ST2660 isolated from a cat has strong biofilm-forming ability and increases biofilm formation at cat’s normal body temperature

• Published in: Scientific reports 2024-10, Vol.14 (1), p.23820-12, Article 23820
• Main Authors: Sato, Yoshinori, Hatayama, Nami, Suzuki, Yuko, Yugeta, Naoko, Yoshino, Yusuke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/326; 631/326/22; 631/326/41; 631/326/46; 631/601; 692/420; 692/420/254; Abscesses; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotic resistance; Bacterial diseases; Biofilms; Biofilms - drug effects; Biofilms - growth & development; Body temperature; Body Temperature - drug effects; Cat; Cat Diseases - microbiology; Cats; Companion animal; Doxycycline; Fluoroquinolones - pharmacology; Grooming; Growth conditions; Horses; Humanities and Social Sciences; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); ST2660; Staphylococcal Infections - drug therapy; Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcal Infections - veterinary; Staphylococcus - drug effects; Staphylococcus - genetics; Staphylococcus - isolation & purification; Staphylococcus - physiology; Staphylococcus pseudintermedius; Strong biofilm-forming ability; Toxins; Virulence; Wound infection
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-75165-y

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius has been isolated from dogs, cats, and horses and is also known as an emergent zoonotic agent. We administered orbifloxacin, a fluoroquinolone, to treat bacterial infections of cutaneous wounds caused by excessive grooming of the skin in contact with the subcutaneous port of the subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) system in a cat. However, after 80 days of treatment, a severe abscess was observed in the wound and fluoroquinolone-resistant S. pseudintermedius was isolated from the abscess. The isolate was identified as a novel sequence type (ST) 2660 and contained genes for leukocidins ( lukS and lukF ), exfoliative toxin ( siet ), and biofilm regulation ( icaA and icaD ). The isolate was resistant to macrolide, lincosamide, fluoroquinolone, and tetracycline classes. In addition, the isolate had strong biofilm-forming ability which significantly increased with culturing at 39 °C compared with that at 37 °C, suggesting that the isolate prefers a cats’ body temperature as the optimal biofilm growth condition. Notably, the biofilms were increased in the presence of doxycycline with culturing at 39 °C. This study is the first report in Japan on the new sequence type of S. pseudintermedius isolated from a companion animal and clarifies the distinctive virulence of S. pseudintermedius .