New Staphylococcus aureus genetic cluster associated with infectious osteomyelitis Authors Javier Donate-Correa Julia Alcoba-Flórez Sebastián Méndez-Álvarez Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, osteomyelitis infections, genetic diversity Abstract Diverse genotyping methods, including multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA), pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and multilocus sequence typing (MLST), were used for genotyping Staphylococcus aureus in samples recovered from a clinical case of osteomyelitis. An unexpected genetic diversity of strains was determined, including four new sequence types (ST 1521, 1522, 1628 and 1629) belonging to the same genetic lineage, implying the appearance of a new subgroup derived from clonal complex CC121 isolated from that hospital. A close phylogenetic relationship among the STs was demonstrated, reflecting a possible diversifying evolution process. To our knowledge, there have no been previous reports of staphylococcal genetic variability observed within a single individual with such a high degree of variation. These findings emphasize the need for infection control measures to monitor the high genetic variability continuously occurring in this often dangerous infectious agent. [Int Microbiol 2011; 14(1):33-39] Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 14 No. 1 (2011) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.