Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ST398 Raw sequence reads. Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ST398

Mastitis in dairy cattle highly affected animal welfare and milk quality leading to great economical losses in milk production. One of the major pathogens causing mammary infections in dairy ruminants worldwide is Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), which prevalently causes moderate inflammatory response and often subclinical infections with increase of contagiousness risk and diffusion in herds. S. aureus subtypes differ from herd to herd in term of pathogenic and contagious properties. The potential virulence of a S. aureus strain is often determined by comparing their molecular typing profiles; to date however no gene has been identified as being a marker of contagiousness. The project aims to generate new biomarkers associated to mastitis invasiveness by deeply investigate the molecular basis of different S. aureus strains. To achieve this objective, S. aureus strain will be collected in different Italian region, typed using a conventional molecular approach (Ribosomal Spacer PCR) and classified according to their phenotype (high and low bovine mastitis incidence in herds) and genotype.