GENOTYPIC AND PHENOTYPIC ANALYSIS OF BIOFILM FORMATION IN STAPHYLOCOCCUS EPIDERMIDIS ISOLATES FROM HUMAN AND ANIMAL SKIN AND SOFT TISSUE INFECTIONS

The present study aims at determining the prevalence and biofilm characterization of Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) isolates from both humans and animals with skin and soft tissue infections. Out of 250 samples investigated, 70 revealed the presence of S. epidermidis based on cultural and morphological characteristics. Of those, 37 were confirmed as S. epidermidis based on species-specific PCR amplification. The phenotypic determination of biofilm production among S. epidermidis isolates revealed that approximately 80% of S. epidermidis isolates were biofilm producers (CRA, 78.37%; TA and TCP, 81.08%) with varying intensities (43.24% strong, 35.13% moderate, 21.63% weak/non; 54.05% strong, 27.02% moderate, 18.52% weak/non and 35.14% strong, 45.94% moderate, 18.92%). The genetic analysis of biofilm production revealed an overall prevalence of 27.02%, 21.62%, 21.62%, 18.91%, and 13.51% of icaD, clfA, cna, fnbA, and bap genes, respectively, while none of the isolates showed the presence of the icaA gene.