Comparison of PFGE, ribotyping and phage-typing in the epidemiological analysis ofCampylobacter jejuniserotype HS2 infections

Abstract

SUMMARYIn this study we have evaluated the ability of three typing methods, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), phage-typing and ribotyping, to discriminate not only between strains of differing serotypes but also between strains within a single serotype, heat stable serotype 2 (HS2). Forty-five isolates derived from cases of campylobacter enteritis occurring in the Cardiff area were examined. These included 18, mostly HS2, strains associated with an outbreak. The typing results for these and a further 39 epidemiologically unrelated strains of serotype HS2 were compared. This is the first report documenting the use of PFGE in an epidemiological investigation of Camnpylobacter jejuni in the UK. The results presented suggest that this technique is the most discriminatory of the three subtyping methods examined.

The application of genotyping techniques to the epidemiological analysis ofCampylobacter jejuni

“…have been described elsewhere [18], and our study confirms the potential for this technique. However, we observed only a single Hae III ribotype pattern for the majority of serogroup HS 1, 2 and 4 strains in this study (Tables 2a-c), a similar finding to that reported elsewhere [2,5]. These three serogroups account for up to 80% of all serogroupable human isolates [17], and HaeIII ribotyping appears inadequate for subtyping this group.…”

“…Our results with the E3CJC2 probe, using a limited panel of strains, also found variability within these groups, particularly amongst strains of HS 1 (Table 2a). No genotype variation was detected amongst the HS 2/HL 4 strains examined in this study, contrary to the variability reported elsewhere [2,3,21]. However, our analysis is restricted to strains showing the defined stable antigenic associations predominating in human infections (e.g.…”

“…Other molecular techniques have been used for subtyping the three principal C. jejuni HS serogroups (HS 1, 2 and 4), including pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [2,5] and RFLP analysis of the PCRamplified campylobacter fla A gene [19,20]. These studies confirm that within each HS or HL serogroup considerable genetic diversity exists at the loci studied.…”

“…serogroup or phagetype determinants) [2][3][4][5]. High resolution genotyping methods can additionally evaluate the phylogenetic as well as epidemiologic relationships between strains [4,6].…”

Nucleic Acid-Based Methods to Identify, Detect and Type Pathogenic Bacteria Occurring in Milk and Dairy Products

“…[205] and Campylobacter spp. [206,207]. rDNA based fingerprints can be obtained also by ARDRA (Amplified rDNA restriction analysis).…”