Patent ID: 7449289

Claim:
A method to detect the presence of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain in a specimen, comprising: obtaining a sample from said specimen to be analyzed for the presence of a MRSA strain that includes an SCCmec insert containing a mecA gene, said SCCmec being inserted into chromosomal DNA, thereby generating a polymorphic right extremity junction (MREJ) region sequence that includes sequence from both the SCCmec insert right extremity and chromosomal DNA adjoining that right extremity; contacting the sample with at least two primers, wherein the at least two primers amplify the MREJ region sequence of at least one of SEQ ID NOs: 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 47, 48, 49, 50,171,165,166,167 and/or 168 under conditions of 50 mM KCl, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 9.0), 0.1% Triton X-100, 2.5 mM MgCl 2 at 55° C., and wherein said contacting takes place under annealing conditions wherein an amplicon is produced if any of said SEQ ID NOs are present in said sample, thereby generating an amplicon if a MRSA strain of at least one of MREJ types iv-ix is present in the sample; and detecting said amplicon as indicative of the presence of a MRSA strain in said specimen.