The Department of life sciences at the Faculty of science at the University of Mosul discussed the tagged master‘s thesis: “Characterization of virulence factors in a typical non-mannitol fermenting Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from clinical specimens” Presented by the researcher Muwaffaq Saleh Hussein Aliwi, on Sunday, September 6, 2026. The aim of the study was to characterize the isolates of Staphylococcus aureus non-fermenting mannitol bacteria externally and molecularly, to study their relationship to the formation of biofilms and antibiotic resistance, as well as to reveal a number of genes associated with resistance and virulence factors, which contributes to demonstrating the clinical significance of these isolates and the possibility of their accurate diagnosis by conventional and molecular laboratory methods. The study included 262 clinical samples collected from Al-Salam Teaching Hospital in Mosul for the period from October 2025 to March 2026, as the results showed bacterial growth in 212 samples by 80.9%, compared to no growth in 50 samples by 19.1%. Among the samples with bacterial growth, 55 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were diagnosed, which were divided into 51 fermented mannitol isolates and 4 non-fermented mannitol isolates. The study also included the molecular investigation of a number of genes associated with resistance and virulence, including femA, Meca, ICAD, TST-1 and beta, in addition to studying a number of characteristics associated with the pathological behavior of isolates. The study showed the importance of combining phenotypic and molecular diagnostics when dealing with non-fermented Staphylococcus aureus mannitol isolates, not relying on the character of mannitol fermentation alone in the diagnosis, as well as the importance of studying antibiotic resistance, the composition of biofilms and virulence-related genes in determining the clinical characteristics of these isolates. The discussion Committee was chaired by Dr. Mahmoud Zaki Suleiman Sultan, and the membership of assistant professor Dr. Ala Hussein Taha Mahmoud and teacher Dr. Esraa Mohammed Adel Sharif, and the membership and supervision of Professor Dr. Esraa Ghanem Hazem Mohammed. This discussion comes within the framework of the scientific and research activity carried out by the Department of Life Sciences in the fields of microbiology, molecular diagnostics and the study of virulence factors and resistance of pathogenic bacteria. We wish the researcher and all graduate students and teachers of our college success and excellence.

Government information and Communication Division

Sunday, September 6, 2026