A study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of genes encoding antibiotic resistance for commonly used antibiotics in poultry production in S. aureus isolated from Chicken meat marketed in Chennai City. A multiplex PCR was used for screening of 50 S. aureus isolates for the presence of five genes viz., aacA-aphD (aminoglycoside), tetK and tetM (tetracycline resistance), erm(A) and erm(C) (macrolide-lincosamide-steptogramin B resistance). The results of the study revealed that of the 50 isolates screened all the isolates (100 per cent) carried either one of these resistance gene. Among the various genes either alone or in combination 48 isolates (96 %) carried tetK gene, 44 isolates (88 %) carried aacA-aphD gene, 43 isolates (86 %) carried erm(C) gene, three isolates (6 %) carried tetM gene and none of the isolates carried erm(A) gene. It was evident that 37 of the isolates (74 %) carried three resistant genes followed 6 isolates with two resistance genes (12 %) and one isolate with only one gene. The study clearly indicated the prevalence of multidrug resistant S. aureus in retail chicken meat and its potential in transference of antibiotic resistance to the consumers. This multiplex PCR can be used as a simple, rapid and accurate assay for identification of antibiotic resistance profile and could be used for surveillance in epidemiological studies.

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