Abstract:Staphylococcus aureus is an emerging foodborne pathogen implicated in a substantial number of cases of staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP), primarily due to its ability to produce staphylococcal enterotoxins. Recently, due to the rising use of antibiotics, there have been increases in the frequency and severity of foodborne S. aureus drug resistance. Furthermore, there has been a rise in the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains, particularly in livestock and poultry production, as well as in aquaculture; this has garnered considerable attention and raised widespread concern globally. Therefore, it is particularly important to elucidate the underlying drug resistance mechanisms and develop effective methods for detecting drug resistance in S. aureus. To date, extensive research has been conducted on the drug resistance mechanisms of S. aureus, with clear descriptions provided for most of these, which can be divided into three types, namely, the inactivation of antibiotics, efflux pumps, and ribosomal protection. To rapidly and accurately determine the drug resistance phenotypes and related molecular characteristics of S. aureus, as well as to enhance the identification of new resistance genes and examination of new resistance mechanisms, a range of methods for resistance detection or prediction have been developed. These include traditional methods for detecting resistance phenotypes, targeted detection of related genes and their expression levels, and bioinformatics-based approaches that use omics data from strains to predict resistance. In this review, several common mechanisms underlying S. aureus drug resistance are described, followed by an evaluation of existing approaches.