Objective      To determine the molecular types and resistance of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains to commonly used antibiotics isolated in Urumqi

China.       Methods      A total of 86 S. aureus isolates were collected from a large-scale general hospital in Urumqi during June 2010 and December 2012. The methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) were determined. The molecular typing

including staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing

staphylococcal protein A (spa) gene typing

multilocus sequence typing (MLST)

pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)

and accessory gene regulator (agr) typing were applied for the strains. The carriage of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (pvl) genes and drug susceptibilities of S. aureus strains against 13 kinds of antibiotics were determined.       Results      In the 86 S. aureus isolates

31 were MRSA (36.0%) and 55 were MSSA (64.0%). The MRSA strains were divided into 8 spa types and 7 ST types

ST239-MRSA-Ⅲ-t030 was the most prevalent clone (71%

22/31). Among 55 MSSA strains

23 spa types

16 ST types and 8 PFGE groups were found. Most MSSA strains were agrⅠ types (56.4%

31/55). The frequency of pvl carriage was 49.1% (27/55) in MSSA strains

and was 38.7% (12/31) in MRSA strains. All MRSA strains were multidrug-resistant (MDR)

whereas 31 out of the 55 MSSA strains (56.4%) belonged to MDR.       Conclusion      ST239-MRSA-Ⅲ-t030 is still the most predominant MRSA in Urumqi. MSSA isolates show wide genetic diversity. New types t11413 and ST121 are also dominant.