Genotyping of Human Campylobacter jejuni Isolates in Greece by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Genotyping of Human Campylobacter jejuni Isolates in Greece by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Anastassios Ioannidis,1 Chryssoula Nicolaou,1 Nicholas John Legakis,2 Vasiliki Ioannidou,1 Eleni Papavasileiou,3 Aliki Voyatzi3 and Stylianos Chatzipanagiotou3 1 2 3
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Athens Medical School, Aeginition Hospital, Athens, Greece Department of Microbiology, Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece Department of Clinical Microbiology, Penteli Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
Abstract
Background: Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing has been recognized by several groups as a relatively simple and quick method for genotyping of Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni). The present study was carried out to determine the genetic variations among clinical isolates of C. jejuni from Greece and to establish a database, which could be used for future epidemiological and clinical studies. Methods: A total of 93 C. jejuni clinical isolates of known flagellin subunit A (flaA) genotype, serotype, and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, were collected from a general hospital in the Attica region of Greece, between the years 2000 and 2003. The PFGE profiles of SmaI DNA digests of each strain were compared using a bin analysis based on 44 molecular size intervals. Results: Forty-three different PFGE types, designated as C. jejuni (C. j.) 1 Greece (GR) to C. j. 43 GR, were identified. There was no statistically significant association of PFGE type with flaA genotype, serotype, or antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. However, PFGE typing did show a remarkable discriminatory ability within the non-serotypable group. Conclusion: Evaluating our results, we observed that (i) there was no statistically significant clonality of a certain PFGE type among the strains examined, and (ii) the discriminatory ability of PFGE typing was much better than that of the other typing methods. This is the first report of the use of bin patterns to compare the PFGE genotypes identified.
Background Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the most common bacterial enteropathogens in developed countries. Many domestic and wild animals are involved in disease transmission, with wild birds and poultry being the most important reservoirs. Contaminated poultry meat and viscera, drinking water, and unpasteurized milk have been shown to be risk factors both in epidemics and sporadic cases.[1] Various strain-typing methods have been developed for the epidemiological surveillance of Campylobacter infections.[2] The subtyping of clinical, animal, and food isolates remains an important requirement for epidemiological studies in order to (i) trace sources and routes of transmission of human infections; (ii) identify and monitor temporally and geographically specific strains with
important phenotypic characteristics; and (iii) develop strategies to control organisms within the food chain. Serotyping, biotyping, and phage typing are the most common ph
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