FOOD BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS

Efficacy of a Latex Agglutination Test for Rapid Identification of

Staphylococcus aureus: Collaborative Study
CHANG & HUANG: JOURNAL OF AOAC INTERNATIONAL VOL. 79, NO. 3, 1996
TSUNG C. CHANG and SU H. HUANG
Food Industry Research and Development Institute, PO Box 246, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, Republic of China
Collaborators: H.Y. Chao; B.L. Chen; C. Chen; C.H. Chen; T.R. Chen; C.Y. Chin; C.P. Chiu; F.P. Chiu; J. Chou; C.Y. Chyr; S.Y.
Chu; S.M. Hsiao; Y.M. Hsieh; A. Huang; W.I. Huang; S.S. Hung; H.C. Ko; L.P. Lin; P.Y. Lin; C.B. Liu; F.C. Liu; Y.I. Sheu; J.S.
Shie; T.F. Tai; S.J. Tsai; S.J. Wang; S.C. Wen; H.C. Wong; L.P. Yan; T. Yeh

Fifteen laboratories completed a collaborative

study comparing the efficacy of a latex agglutination kit (Aureus Test) with that of AOAC Official
Method 987.09 (coagulase test for identification of
Staphylococcus aureus). Each laboratory analyzed
240 strains of bacteria, including 160 isolates of S.
aureus and 80 isolates of other bacteria. Upon receipt of cultures, collaborators subcultured each
isolate on both tryptic soy agar (TSA) and BairdParker agar medium (BPA) to determine whether
the growth medium has any effect on either
method. For cultures grown on TSA, the latex test
had sensitivity and specificity rates of 99.2 and
97.1%, respectively, whereas the coagulase test
had respective rates of 98.4 and 92.5%. For cultures able to grow on BPA, the latex test had sensitivity and specificity rates of 99.2 and 96.6%, respectively, while the coagulase test had respective
rates of 98.3 and 91.3%. By using the McNemar pairwise comparison test of the 2 methods, the falsepositive and false-negative rates of the latex test
were significantly lower (p < 0.01) than those of the
coagulase test for strains grown either on TSA or
BPA. The latex agglutination test for identification
of S. aureus isolated from foods has been adopted
by AOAC INTERNATIONAL.

resence of Staphylococcus aureus in foods is generally an

indication of poor sanitation or postcontamination of the
processed foods. Because S. aureus can produce several
types of enterotoxins causing gastroenteritis, presence of the
microorganism in foods is of public health concern. Baird-

Submitted for publication March 8, 1995.

The recommendation was approved by the Methods Committee on
Microbiology and Extraneous Materials and was adopted by the Official
Methods Board of the Association. See Official Methods Board Action
(1995) J. AOAC Int. 78, 88A and Official Methods Board Actions (1995)
The Referee 19, June issue.

Parker agar medium (BPA) is commonly used for selective isolation of S. aureus, and the coagulase test is normally used for
identification of suspect colonies on this selective medium (1
3). Although the coagulase test is simple and reliable, falsepositive results can be caused by other Staphylococcus species
(4), and different animal plasma used for the test may result in
different results (5). Some citrate-utilizing bacteria may also
cause false-positives results, because citrate is one of the anticoagulants used during the collection of animal blood (6).
Moreover, for performing the coagulase assay, suspect isolates
on BPA need to be transferred to brain-heart infusion (BHI)
broth for overnight incubation; the culture broth is then tested
for coagulase activity, a step that may require a period as long
as 6 h. Because BPA is generally used to isolate S. aureus from
foods (13), a rapid identification method of the bacterium on the
medium may save 2 days comparing to the coagulase procedure.
Since the development of a slide agglutination test with
plasma-coated latex for rapid identification of S. aureus (7), several researchers (811) have evaluated the efficacy of some commercial latex agglutination kits for identification of clinical isolates
of S. aureus. Generally, favorable results have been obtained. The
latex agglutination test is very simple to perform, and results can
be obtained within minutes. However, none of these commercial
latex kits used for identifying S. aureus has been collaboratively
compared with the conventional coagulase test.
A latex agglutination kit (Aureus Test, Trisum Corp., Taipei,
Taiwan) for rapid identification of S. aureus recently became
commercially available. Anti-protein A immunoglobulin G
(IgG) and fibrinogen are used to coat polystyrene latex beads
to simultaneously bind protein A and coagulase, both of which
are specific cell surface components of S. aureus.
A precollaborative study (12) using 267 strains (of which
157 were S. aureus) was performed to compare the Aureus Test
latex agglutination method with AOAC Official Method 987.09
(conventional coagulase test). For the latex test, high sensitivity
(100%) and specificity (>94.4%) were obtained. The results
were comparable with or even better than those obtained with
the conventional coagulase test.
The objective of this study was to collaboratively compare
the Aureus Test kit with the AOAC Official Method 987.09

(coagulase test) for identification of S. aureus isolated from

foods and other sources. To determine the effect of growth medium on the 2 methods, cultures grown on BPA and tryptic soy
agar (TSA) were evaluated.
Collaborative Study

Preparation and Shipment of Test Cultures

Collaborators tested 240 strains of bacteria (Table 1). From
the 160 isolates of S. aureus, 100 were obtained from the
American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Rockville, MD) or
the Culture Collection and Research Center (CCRC), Food Industry Research and Development Institute (Hsinchu, Taiwan).
The remaining 60 strains were isolated from various foods by
the Food Microbiology Section, Food Industry Research and
Development Institute. The other 80 strains of non-S. aureus
bacteria, including 59 strains (16 species) of Staphylococcus
spp. and 21 strains of other microorganisms, were also from
ATCC and CCRC.
Bacterial isolates were shipped in 8 sets (30 isolates/set)
from the authors laboratory to 15 laboratories in Taiwan, with
an interval of about 24 weeks between shipments. Also included in each set of cultures were S. aureus ATCC 12600 and
S. epidermidis ATCC 115 as positive and negative controls, respectively. Bacterial cultures coded with a serial number (from
1 to 240) were shipped at room temperature on TSA slants on
Thursday the week before analysis. The cultures were kept at
room temperature before analysis on Monday the following
week.

Analysis of Bacterial Cultures

Fifteen laboratories participated in this study. Each laboratory received detailed instructions, report sheets, and latex reagent for agglutination test. On the first day of analysis, each
isolate was streaked on a TSA plate and incubated 24 2 h at
3537C to check isolate purity. Cultures grown on TSA
plates were used for the latex agglutination test and coagulase
test. The coagulase test was performed according to AOAC Official Method 987.09 (1), with any degree of clot formation being considered as a positive reaction. In addition, one single
colony of each culture on TSA was streaked on a BPA plate and
incubated 4448 h at 35C. Cultures that showed growth on
BPA were also tested with the 2 methods. The purpose of the
experimental design was to validate the efficacy of the latex kit
for cultures grown on TSA and BPA.

Statistical Analysis
Data from all collaborators were collected and statistically
analyzed. For S. aureus, qualitative results were analyzed by
using a pair-wise comparison of the rate of false-negative reactions by each method (latex agglutination versus coagulase) as
described by McNemar (13), according to the relationship:
2 =

(a b 1)2
a+b

where a = number of tests positive by latex agglutination

method and negative by coagulase method and b = number of

tests positive by coagulase method and negative by latex agglutination method. A 2 value of >6.63 indicates significance at p
< 0.01.
For non-S. aureus bacteria, results were statistically analyzed by using a pair-wise comparison of the rate of false-positive reactions by each method (latex agglutination versus coagulase) as described by McNemar (13), according to the same
equation as above.
Sensitivity and specificity rates for both methods were calculated according to the method of McClure (14). Sensitivity is
defined as the number of test positives for S. aureus bacteria
(i.e., true positives) divided by total number of S. aureus tested.
Specificity is defined as the number of test negatives of non-S.
aureus (true negatives) divided by total number of non-S.
aureus bacteria tested. For latex agglutination, occasionally,
autoagglutination (nonspecific agglutination with both control
and test latex reagents) was observed. Strains showing autoagglutination were recorded as uninterpretable; these tests were
invalid and the data were excluded from statistical analysis.
995.12 Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Foods,
Latex Agglutination Test Method
First Action 1995
(Method is agglutination test for rapid identification of
Staphylococcus aureus isolates from foods.)
Caution: See Appendix for Laboratory Safety for Safe
Handling of Microorganisms. Perform latex test in biosafety
cabinet (e.g., with laminar flow). Latex reagents contain 0.1%
sodium azide. Avoid contact with skin and eyes. In case of contact, immediately flush contact surfaces with plenty of water.
Disposal of this reagent into sinks with copper or lead plumbing should be followed immediately with large quantities of
water to prevent potential explosive hazards. Reagents are
harmful if swallowed. Autoclave all materials after use.
Method Performance:
See Tables 995.12AC for method performance data.

A. Principle
Bacteria are isolated on Baird-Parker agar medium and then
subcultured onto tryptic (trypticase) soy agar. Individual suspect colonies are transferred to reaction card and mixed with
polystyrene latex particles. Latex particles are coated with antiprotein A immunoglobulin G and fibrinogen that bind protein
A and coagulase (both are specific cell surface components of
S. aureus). Agglutination reaction is observed within ca 1 min
when S. aureus is present.

B. Apparatus
(a) Disposable reaction card.Contains 5 control circles
and 5 test circles. Card can be used for 5 tests.
(b) Disposable wooden applicator stick.100 pieces.
Items (a) and (b) are supplied in the Aureus Test kit from
Trisum Corp., Taipei, Taiwan.

C. Media and Reagents

Store test and control latex reagents at 28C. Do not
freeze. Freezing causes irreversible agglomeration of latex particles. Do not use latex reagent if agglomeration is visible.
(a) Tryptic (trypticase) soy agar (TSA).Suspend 15.0 g
trypticase peptone (pancreatic digest of casein), 5.0 g phytone
peptone (papaic digest of soya meal), 5.0 g NaCl, and 15.0 g
agar in 1 L H2O. Heat with agitation to dissolve agar. Dispense
200 mL portions into flasks. Autoclave 15 min at 121C. Final
pH, 7.3 0.2. Pour 1518 mL medium into sterile 15
100 mm Petri dishes.
(b) Baird-Parker agar medium (BPA).(1) Basal medium.Suspend 10.0 g tryptone, 5.0 g beef extract, 1.0 g yeast
extract, 10.0 g sodium pyruvate, 12.0 g glycine, 5.0 g LiCl
6H2O, and 20.0 g agar in 950 mL H2O. Heat to boil to dissolve all
components completely. Dispense 95 mL portions into screwcapped bottles. Autoclave 15 min at 121C. Final pH, 7.0 0.2.
Store 1 month at 4 1C. (2) Enrichment medium.Bacto EY
tellurite enrichment (Difco Laboratories). (3) Complete medium.Add 5 mL enrichment (warmed to room temperature) to
95 mL molten basal medium cooled to 4550C. Mix well,
avoiding bubbles, and pour 1518 mL into sterile 15 100 mm
Petri dishes. Plates can be stored up to 5 days at room temperature (25C).
(c) Test latex reagent.Polystyrene latex particles coated
with anti-protein A immunoglobulin G (IgG) and fibrinogen.
(d) Control latex reagent.Polystyrene latex particles
coated with bovine serum albumin.
Items (c) and (d) are supplied in the Aureus Test kit.

D. Preparation of Test Sample and Isolation of

Suspect Colonies
(a) Preparation of food homogenate.Proceed as in
987.09C.
(b) Isolation of suspect colonies of S. aureus.To isolate
colonies on BPA, proceed as in 987.09D, 987.09E, or 975.55B.
(c) Subculturing of suspect colonies.Using inoculation
loop, transfer suspect colonies from BPA to TSA slants. Incubate slants 1824 h at 35C.

E. Latex Agglutination Test

Use either suspect colonies grown on BPA or their subcultures grown on TSA. If an individual BPA colony is not large
enough, subculturing step from BPA to TSA is necessary to
obtain adequate amount of culture for latex agglutination test.
(1) Using sterile inoculation loop or sterile wooden applicator stick, transfer one suspect colony to control circle and to
test circle on reaction card.
(2) Add 1 drop (4050 L) control latex reagent to control
circle. Add 1 drop test latex reagent to test circle.
(3) Mix contents of control circle with inoculation loop or
wooden stick, and then, using the same loop or stick, mix contents of test circle.
(4) Gently rock reaction card back and forth by hand ca
1 min and look for agglutination and significant clearing of
milky background under ambient light.

(5) Test positive and negative controls simultaneously with

test cultures.

F. Reading
Test is positive if agglutination is observed in test circle and
suspension in control circle remains homogeneous.
Test is negative if no agglutination is observed in test circle.
Test is uninterpretable if agglutination is observed in both
control and test circles. Strain showing uninterpretable latex
reaction must be confirmed by conventional tests as described
in 987.09 or in Bacteriological Analytical Manual, current edition, AOAC INTERNATIONAL, Arlington, VA.
Ref.: J. AOAC Int. 79, 661(1996)
Results and Discussion
Fifteen laboratories participated in the collaborative
study. Each laboratory tested 240 bacterial strains (Table 1).
In general, similar results were obtained whether test cultures were grown on BPA or TSA. Most strains of S. aureus
produced positive coagulase and latex agglutination reactions as expected. However, strains of S. aureus showing
false-negative reactions on TSA (Table 2) and BPA (Table 4)
were found. Tables 3 and 5 show strains of non-S. aureus
bacteria producing false-positive reactions on TSA and BPA,
respectively. Some uninterpretable reactions are also shown
in these tables.
False-negatives by the latex test (Tables 2 and 4) were
caused mainly by culture No. 183 (S. aureus ATCC 27703); 14
of 15 collaborators reported negative results for this strain. Cultures No. 62 (ATCC 14154), 161 (CCRC 13824), and 221
(CCRC 14834) mainly were responsible for false-negative coagulase tests. Thirteen collaborators obtained negative coagulase results for culture No. 221.
False positives with the latex test were found with cultures
No. 56, 59, 70, 188, and 197 (Tables 3 and 5). Occasionally,
autoagglutination was found when performing the latex agglutination assay. This phenomenon was reported also in other
studies (10, 12). It may be caused by the surface characteristics
of some bacteria. If autoagglutination occurs, the test becomes
uninterpretable and is invalid. Under this condition, the conventional identification procedure (13) should be followed.
However, the rate of autoagglutination was low (about 0.3%),
and only one-third (0.1%) was caused by S. aureus.
All 15 collaborators reported false-positive coagulase tests
for cultures No. 47 (S. intermedius ATCC 29663), 70 (S. intermedius ATCC 49052), 149 (S. delphini ATCC 49171), 150 (S.
delphini ATCC 49172), and 172 (S. intermedius ATCC 49051).
The ability of S. intermedius to clot plasma has been well documented in Bergeys Manual of Systematic Bacteriology (15).
Recently, S. delphini was reported to be coagulase positive
(16). A recent survey (4) found that S. intermedius and S. delphini are strong coagulase producers. Other false positives for
the coagulase test were found randomly in some strains of other
bacteria.
Method performance for bacteria grown on TSA is shown
in Table 995.12A. For the latex agglutination assay, among the

2400 tests performed on 160 strains of S. aureus, there were

18 negative and 3 uninterpretable reactions. Of 1200 tests performed on other bacteria, there were 35 positive and 7 uninterpretable reactions. Therefore, the sensitivity and specificity
rates of the latex test for S. aureus identification were 99.2%
(2379/2397; results of autoagglutination were excluded from
performance calculations) and 97.1% (1158/1193), respectively. For the coagulase test, 38 of 2400 tests performed on S.
aureus were negative and 90 of 1200 tests performed on other
bacteria were positive. Therefore, for cultures grown on TSA,
sensitivity and specificity rates (Table 995.12A) of coagulase
test for identification of S. aureus were 98.4% (2362/2400) and
92.5% (1110/1200), respectively.
Because BPA is a highly selective medium, some bacteria
could not grow on it (Table 5). Thus, these cultures were not
tested by both methods. In addition, a few strains showed a
slight growth on BPA after 48 h incubation. For these strains,
some collaborators conducted the comparison study of the
2 methods, while other did not. However, this difference would
not influence the statistical analysis of data, because the results
were compared pair-wise (13). For cultures grown on BPA, the
latex assay had sensitivity and specificity rates of 99.2%
(2379/2397) and 96.6% (985/1020), respectively, whereas the
conventional coagulase procedure had respective rates of
98.3% (2360/2400) and 91.3% (937/1026) (Table 995.12B).
For TSA cultures, a high percentage (84%, 75/89) of false positives by coagulase test was caused by S. intermedius and S.
delphini.
For S. aureus grown on TSA, a was 33, and b was 14 (Table 995.12C). A 2 value of 6.89 (>6.63) was obtained. For
other bacteria grown on TSA, a and b were 22 and 77, respectively. A 2 value of 29.45 (>6.63) was obtained. Therefore,
both the false-negative and false-positive rates of the latex test
for S. aureus identification on TSA were significantly lower (p
<0.01) than the coagulase test.
For S. aureus grown on BPA, a and b were 35 and 14 (Table 995.12C), respectively, with a 2 value of 8.16 (>6.63). For
other bacteria, a and b were 22 and 76, respectively. A 2 value
of 28.66 (>6.63) was obtained. Therefore, the false-negative
and false-positive rates of the latex test for S. aureus identification on BPA also were significantly (p < 0.01) lower than those
of the coagulase test.
Recommendation
The study shows that the Aureus Test is a suitable alternative
to AOAC Official Method 987.09 for identification of S.
aureus from foods. It is recommended that the latex agglutination test for identification of S. aureus isolated from foods be
adopted first action.
Acknowledgments
We appreciate the suggestions of M.L. Shen, National Taiwan University, and W.H. Andrews and F. McClure, U.S. Food
and Drug Administration, Washington, DC. This study was

supported by a grant from the Council of Agriculture, Republic

of China. We thank the following for their participation:
L.P. Lin and C.B. Liu, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
C.Y. Chyr and F.P. Chiu, Department of Animal Science,
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
H.C. Wong and F.C. Liu, Department of Microbiology,
Soochou University, Taipei, Taiwan
Y.I. Sheu, S.Y. Chu, and H.Y. Chao, Bureau of Commodity
Inspection and Quarantine, Ministry of Economic Affairs,
Taipei, Taiwan
H.C. Ko, S.S. Hung, and S.M. Hsiao, National Laboratories
of Foods and Drugs, Department of Health, Taipei, Taiwan
C.H. Chen, S.J. Tsai, and C.Y. Chin, Development Center
for Biotechnology, Taipei, Taiwan
C.P. Chiu and P.Y. Lin, Department of Nutrition and Food
Sciences, Fu-Jen University, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan
J. Chou, T. Yeh, and A. Huang, Standard Foods Taiwan,
Ltd., Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan
L.P. Yan, Department of Food Science, Tunghai University,
Taichung Hsien, Taiwan
Y.M. Hsieh, Department of Food Science and Nutrition,
Providence University, Taichung Hsien, Taiwan
C. Chen and J.S. Shie, Department of Food Science, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
T.R. Chen, Department of Food Industry, National Chia-Yi
Institute of Agriculture, Chiayi, Taiwan
S.J. Wang, Department of Food Health, Chia Nan Junior
College of Pharmacy, Tainan Hsien, Taiwan
T.F. Tai and S.C. Wen, Taiwan Meat Development Foundation, Pingtong, Taiwan
W.I. Huang and B.L. Chen, Department of Environmental
Protection, National Pingtong Polytechnic Institute, Pingtong
Hsien, Taiwan
References
(1) Official Methods of Analysis (1990) 15th Ed., AOAC, Arlington, VA, secs 980.37 and 987.09
(2) Bennett, R.W., & Lancette, G.A. (1992) in Bacteriological
Analytical Manual, 7th Ed., AOAC INTERNATIONAL, Arlington, VA, Chapter 12
(3) Lancette, G.A., & Tatini, S.R. (1990) in Compendium of
Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods, 3rd
Ed., C. Vanderzant & D.F. Splittstoesser (Eds), American
Public Health Association, Washington, DC, Chapter 33
(4) Chang, T.C., & Huang, S.H. (1995) J. Food Prot. 58, 858862
(5) Orth, D.S., Chugg, L.R., & Anderson, A.W. (1971) Appl. Microbiol. 21, 420425
(6) Minor, T.E., & Marth, E.H. (1976) Staphylococci and Their
Significance in Foods, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co.,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 57
(7) Essers, L., & Radebold, K. (1980) J. Clin. Microbiol. 12, 641643
(8) Doern, G.V. (1982) J. Clin. Microbiol. 15, 416418
(9) Myrick, B.A., & Ellner, P.D. (1982) J. Clin. Microbiol. 15,
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(10) Pennell, D.R., Rott-Petri, J.A., & Kurzynski, T.A. (1984) J.
Clin. Microbiol. 20, 614617

(11) Stevens, M., & Geary, C. (1989) Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 8, 153156
(12) Chang, T.C., & Huang, S.H. (1993) J. Food Prot. 56, 759762
(13) Siegel, S. (1956) Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral
Sciences, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY
(14) McClure, F.D. (1990) J. Assoc. Off. Anal. Chem. 73, 953960
(15) Kloos, W.E., & Schleifer, K.H. (1986) In Bergeys Manual of
Systematic Bacteriology, Vol. 2, P.H.A. Sneath, N.S. Mair,
M.E. Sharpe, & J.G. Holt (Eds), Williams & Wilkins Co.,
Baltimore, MD, pp. 10131035
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Schleifer, K.H. (1988) Int. J. Sys. Bacteriol. 38, 436439

Table 995.12A. Method performance for identification of Staphylococcus aureus isolated on tryptic soy agar
Test results
Microorganism

Total

Positives

Negatives

Sensitivity, %

Specificity, %

3
7

99.2

97.1

98.4

92.5

Latex agglutination test

S. aureus
Other

2400
1200

2379
35

18
1158
AOAC Official Method 987.09F

S. aureus
Other
a

2400
1200

2362
90

Uninterpretable results due to autoagglutination.

38
1110

Table 995.12B. Method performance for identification of Staphylococcus aureus isolated on Baird-Parker agar
Test results
Microorganism

Total

Positives

Negatives

Sensitivity, %

Specificity, %

3
6

99.2

96.6

98.3

91.3

Latex agglutination test

S. aureus
Other

2400
1026

2379
35

18
985
AOAC Official Method 987.09F

S. aureus
Other
a

2400
1026

2360
89

Uninterpretable results due to autoagglutination.

40
937

Table 995.12C. Method performance for identification

of Staphylococcus aureus in foods by latex
agglutination test
Microorganism

a Valuea

2 Value

b Valueb

Tryptic soy agar cultures

S. aureus
Other

33
22

14
77

6.89
29.45

Baird-Parker agar cultures

S. aureus
Other

35
22

14
76

8.16
28.66

Number of tests positive by latex agglutination method and

negative by AOAC Official Method 987.09F.
b
Number of tests positive by AOAC Official Method 987.09F and
negative by latex agglutination method.
c
2
2
When degree of freedom = 1,
= 3.84;
= 6.63.
0.05

0.01

Table 1. Isolates for collaborative study of Aureus Test kit

Microorganism

S. aureus

S. auricularis
S. capitis subsp. capitis
S. capitis subsp. ureolyticus
S. caseolyticus
S. cohnii subsp. cohnii
S. delphini
S. epidermidis
S. haemolyticus
S. hominis
S. intermedius
S. lentus
S. lugdunensis
S. sciuri subsp. sciuri
S. simulans
S. warneri
S. xylosus
E. coli
Listeria monocytogenes
Micrococcus luteus
Salmonella typhimurium
Rhodococcus equi
Total
a
b

Culture No.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28,
31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55,
57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79,
80, 81, 84, 85, 87, 90, 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 105,
106, 107, 108, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 120, 121, 122, 123,
125, 126, 127, 130, 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 139, 140, 141, 144,
145, 146, 147, 148, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 161, 162,
163, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179, 181, 182,
183, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 194, 195, 196, 198, 199, 201, 202,
203, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 221,
222, 223, 226, 227, 228, 231, 232, 233, 234, 236, 237, 240
103, 104, 115, 164
12, 95
30, 109, 110
56, 59
43, 119, 124, 165, 188
149, 150
7, 128, 129, 132, 192, 213
18, 176, 177, 193, 217
83, 88, 89, 168, 200, 208
47, 70, 172
24, 209
29, 197
19, 180, 184, 224
6, 220, 230
48, 51, 118, 225, 229
23, 73, 82, 86, 185, 204
38, 41, 138
65, 66, 77, 94, 98
155, 159, 160, 235, 238
34, 37, 137
11, 142, 143, 239

Number of
isolates

Source
a

160

ATCC (50 isolates),

b
CCRC (50 isolates),
foods (60 isolates)

4
2
3
2
5
2
6
5
6
3
2
2
4
3
5
6
3
5
5
3
4
240

ATCC
CCRC, ATCC
ATCC
ATCC
CCRC, ATCC
ATCC
CCRC, ATCC
CCRC, ATCC
ATCC, CCRC
ATCC
ATCC, CCRC
ATCC, CCRC
ATCC, CCRC
CCRC
ATCC, CCRC
ATCC, CCRC
CCRC
ATCC, CCRC
ATCC
CCRC
CCRC

American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, MD.

Culture Collection and Research Center, Food Industry Research and Development Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Table 2. Strains of S. aureus showing false-negative coagulase test or latex agglutination test or uninterpretable
reaction (cultures grown on TSA)
Coagulase test

Latex test
Collaborator

Culture
No.

9
46
53
61
62
145
151
161
183
216
221
222

FN

FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

a
b

FN, false negative.

U, uninterpretable latex reaction.

10 11 12 13 14 15
FNa

FN
FN

FN

FN

FN
FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
FN

FN

FN

10 11 12 13 14 15

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
Ub
U
U

Table 3. Strains of non-S. aureus bacteria showing false-positive coagulase test or latex agglutination test or
uninterpretable reaction (cultures grown on TSA)
Coagulase test

Latex test
Collaborator

Culture
No.

10 11 12 13 14 15

10 11 12 13 14 15

23
24
29
30
43
47
56
59
70
103
110
124
149
150
172
188
192
193
197
200
224

+
+
+
+

+a
+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+
+

+
+
+

Ub

+
+

+
U

+
U

U
+

+
+

+
+

U
+

+
+
+

a
b

+, false positive.
U, uninterpretable latex reaction.

+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+
+

U
+

Table 4. Strains of S. aureus showing false-negative coagulase test or latex agglutination test or uninterpretable
reaction (cultures grown on BPA)
Coagulase test

Latex test
Collaborator

Culture
No.

9
46
53
61
62
145
151
161
183
216
221
222

FN

FN
FN
FN

FN

FN

FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

a
b

FN, false negative.

U, uninterpretable latex reaction.

10 11 12 13 14 15
FNa

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
FN

FN

FN

10 11 12 13 14 15

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN

FN
Ub
U
U

Table 5. Strains of non-S. aureus bacteria showing false-positive coagulase test or latex agglutination test or
uninterpretable reaction or no growth (cultures grown on BPA)
Coagulase test

Latex test
Collaborator

Culture
No.

10 11 12 13 14 15

10 11 12 13 14 15

11

Na

23

b b

24

29

30

34

37

38

41

43

47

48

51

56

59

Uc

65

70

88

89

95

98

103

104

110

115

128

129

132

137

138

142

143

149

N
N

150

155

159

160

164

168

172

176

185

188

193

197

200

204

Table 5. (continued)
Coagulase test

Latex test
Collaborator

Culture
No.

10 11 12 13 14 15

10 11 12 13 14 15

208

224

235

238

239

a
b
c

N, no growth on BPA and was not tested by the coagulase method and the latex method.
+, false positive.
U, uninterpretable latex reaction.

+
N