Objective　　 To determine the molecular types and drug susceptibilities of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevailed in Guangzhou

China. 　　Methods 　　A total of 142 MRSA isolates were collected between October 2010 and April 2011 from two teaching hospitals in Guangzhou. The molecular typing methods

such as staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing

staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing

multilocus sequence typing (MLST)

and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)

were applied for all MRSA strains

and the drug susceptibilities to 17 kinds of antibiotics were also determined. 　　Results　　 In the 142 MRSA isolates

there were 121 hospital-associated isolates (HA-MRSA)

20 community-associated isolates (CA-MRSA)

and 1 non typeable MRSA. Sixteen spa types

eight sequence types (ST)

and thirteen PFGE types were found. The major predominant clones were ST239-MRSA-Ⅲ-t030

ST239-MRSA-Ⅲ-t037 and ST5-MRSA-Ⅱ-t002 that belong to HA-MRSA. Furthermore

colne ST59-MRSA-Ⅳ-t437 that belongs to CA-MRSA was also found to be prevailed in Guangzhou. The major prevailed clones with specific drug resistant profiles were found. 　　Conclusion　　 HA-MRSA is still the most predominant MRSA in Guangzhou

and CA-MRSA with decreasing drug susceptibility is also found. It is the time to monitor the prevalence of CA-MRSA and drug resistance of MRSA.