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Research Article Volume 14 Issue 2
Association between the methicillin resistance profile in taphylococcus aureus and the spectral signature by FTIR
Abadía-Patiño L, Aguilera L, Prin JL
Received: August 05, 2025 | Published: April 7, 2026
Citation: Abadía-Patiño L, Aguilera L, Prin JL. Association between the methicillin resistance profile in taphylococcus aureus and the spectral signature by FTIR. J Microbial Exp. 2026;14(2):24-30. DOI: 10.15406/jmen.2026.14.00453
Abstract
The objective of this work was to determine whether the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technique is optimal for the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. For this study, 29 strains of S. aureus isolated from skin and soft tissues were collected from patients at the “Santos Aníbal Dominicci” hospital, Carúpano, Sucre state. To determine methicillin resistance, several methods were used, such as antimicrobial susceptibility testing, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and PCR for the mecA gene, tests known for their effectiveness, and strain analysis by FTIR was incorporated. Of 29 strains, 17 (59%) were MRSA, correlating this with the presence of the mecA gene, only two discrepancies were observed, which were a methicillin-resistant strain with absence of the mecA gene and a methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) strain with presence of the mecA gene. In turn, of these 29 strains, 21% were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin, respectively. All strains remained sensitive to glycopeptides. The IR (infrared) spectra of methicillin-sensitive and -resistant strains were examined, specifically in the 1480–1450 cm⁻¹ and 1380–1280 cm⁻¹ regions, which constitute a window of lipids and proteins where the CH⁻/CH⁻ functional group is present, with higher values being evident for MRSA strains. This is consistent with the increased content of lipids and/or membrane proteins driven by the expression of the SCC mec cassette genes.
Keywords: Methicillin, oxacillin, resistance, Carúpano, antibiotic resistance, Staphylococcus aureus
©2026 Abadía-Patiño, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.