title: Characterisation of Clostridium botulinum groups I and II by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis and repetitive element sequence-based PCR.
abstract: Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD) and repetitive element sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) were evaluated with respect to their applicability to characterise Clostridium botulinum group I and II strains, the species causing human botulism. Fifteen group I and 21 group II strains of various geographical and temporal origins were characterised with four single arbitrary RAPD primers at low stringency amplification conditions and with a degenerate REP primer pair at moderately stringent conditions. Ready-To-Go RAPD Analysis Beads and Ready-To-Go PCR Beads were used for PCR reactions with RAPD and rep-PCR, respectively. Arbitrary primer OPJ 6 yielded the most discriminating patterns, and distinguished group II C. botulinum serotypes at the strain level. Group I strains were mainly discriminated at the serotype level. The discriminatory power of rep-PCR was found to be inferior to that of RAPD. The REP1R-Dt and REP2R-Dt primer pair generated group I- and II-specific fragments and arbitrary primer OPJ 13 produced a serotype E-specific fragment. The use of pre-dispensed and pre-optimised beads attributed to highly reproducible results. As compared to more time-consuming typing methods, such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), both RAPD and rep-PCR were characterised by rapid performance and a typeability of 100%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hyytiä
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Björkroth
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hielm
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korkeala
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial