In: Biology
1a. Draw a picture of what is happening molecularly with the latex agglutination test.
1b. Why, of all the proteins, does the latex agglutination test assess presence of PBP2a?
1.The Mastalex MRSA latex agglutination method was evaluated with 52 methicillin-resistant and 27 methicillin-susceptible strains of Staphylococcus aureus grown on various media. All tests were correct with colonies grown on blood agar with or without oxacillin 2 mg/L. Tests on colonies grown on mannitol salt agar were less reliable, although addition of oxacillin 2 mg/L improved performance. One of the 26 MRSA which grew on Baird–Parker medium with 8 mg/L ciprofloxacin gave a false-negative result. Agglutination was faster when strains were grown on media with oxacillin. The method would be particularly useful for urgent confirmation of resistance.

2.Almost all MRSA have an additional penicillin-binding protein, PBP2a, mediated by the mecA gene.4 PCR methods detecting the mecA gene will provide results within a few hours, but are not available in most laboratories and test costs are relatively high.