Occurrence and Characterization of Enterotoxigenic Staphylococci Isolated from Soft Cheeses in Serbia

A total of 415 cheese samples produced with raw or cooked milk collected from local markets were analysed for the presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci. In 85 (20.48%) samples the presence of coagulase positive staphylococci was detected. The ELFA technique VIDAS SET2 (BioMerieux, France) was used for testing coagulase-positive staphylococci strains to produce classical enterotoxins (SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, SEE), and to determine the enterotoxins in cheese samples. The number of coagulase-positive staphylococci in cheese samples ranged from 1-5.79 log CFU g^-1. Out of 85 coagulase-positive strains 26 (30.59%) produced enterotoxins. The presence of genes for the synthesis of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) in the obtained extracts of DNA from 26 enterotoxigenic strains was detected by conventional multiplex PCR technique (for genes sea and seb) i.e. the Real-Time PCR technique for genes sec, sed and see. In all 26 strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci (originating from cheeses produced from raw or cooked milk, which were enterotoxin producers) sea was present, and in 24 strains in addition to sea gene, seb was detected. None of the isolates possessed genes for the synthesis of enterotoxin C (SEC), D (SED) and E (SEE). Out of 26 tested cheese samples positive for enterotoxigenic coagulase-positive staphylococci, enterotoxin was detected in 2 (7.69%) samples of sweet-coagulating cheese, in which the number of enterotoxigenic coagulase-positive staphylococci exceeded 5 log CFU g^-1. In sweet-coagulating cheeses in which the number of coagulase-positive staphylococci exceeds 5 log CFU g^-1 and the pH value was higher than 5.0, enterotoxins may be present in amounts sufficient to cause intoxication.