title: Usefulness of ribotyping in a molecular epidemiology study of shigellosis.
abstract: Ribotyping performed with six restriction endonucleases was used to study the molecular epidemiology of shigellosis in Asturias, Spain. The series included Shigella sonnei from 34 sporadic cases, 3 outbreaks and 3 reference strains, and S. Flexneri from sporadic cases and 1 reference strain. The S. sonnei strains were grouped into 5 ribotypes with Sal I, 4 with Hind III and Pvu II, 3 with Bgl II and EcoR I and 2 with Hinc II (Discriminatory Index (DI) between 0.54 and 0.14); the S. flexneri into 5 ribotypes with Sal I, Hinc II and Hind III, and 4 with the other enzymes (DI = 0.71 - 0.63). The combination of results for 2 or more enzymes facilitated and additional discrimination, the highest values in S. sonnei were for the 6 enzymes (16 types, DI = 0.91) and in S. flexneri for some combinations of 3 or more enzymes (7 types, DI = 0.81). Ribotypes with the 6 enzymes defined 16 clonal lines in S. sonnei and 7 in S. flexneri, which showed a different degree of genetic heterogeneity, and all the lines of each species falling into a different cluster. No line appeared as clearly endemic in the bowels of Asturian people.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Funcional, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: González-Hevia
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes / Q000032:analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012764:Shigella sonnei / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes