title: Use of a pilin gene probe to study molecular epidemiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
abstract: Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are unusual. The majority have a rough lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which renders them nontypeable by conventional typing systems based on a serological reaction with the O polysaccharide of smooth LPS. We developed a new typing scheme using a pilin gene probe as a marker for hybridization with endonuclease-digested genomic DNA from P. aeruginosa. Twenty-one different restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) types were found among 249 isolates. RFLP type 7 was recovered only from patients with thermal burns (9 of 14 isolates) in both Vancouver, British Columbia, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. None of the other RFLP types showed a clear predilection for disease state or environmental niche. Multiple morphologically different isolates from individual patients with CF were studied; each isolate in 33 of 40 sputum samples had an identical RFLP type, despite considerable LPS serotype heterogeneity. Sequential isolates from 23 patients were studied; in 10 isolates there was a clear change in both the RFLP and the LPS serotype. We conclude that patients with CF usually harbor a single P. aeruginosa RFLP type in their sputa, but that one strain can replace another as the predominant colonizing type.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Speert
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Volpel
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Joffe
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Paranchych
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D015342:DNA Probes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D015342:DNA Probes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins