Comparison of conventional ribotyping and PCR-RFLP ribotyping for the analysis of endemic strains of Neisseria meningitidis isolated in a local community over 7 years.
Conventional ribotyping was compared with the PCR amplification of the intergenic spacer region between 16S and 23S rRNA genes (PCR-RFLP ribotyping) when applied to the subtyping of sporadic Neisseria meningitidis strains. Thirty isolates out of a total of 36 meningococcal disease cases, reported as having occurred in a particular community over a 7-year endemic period, were analyzed by each of the methods. Only ribotyping with three restriction enzymes (EcoRI, ClaI and XhoI) gave acceptable discriminatory power for short-term epidemiological purposes. We conclude that conventional ribotyping is a suitable method for typing sporadic meningococcal strains and that it cannot be replaced by the more straightforward PCR-RFLP ribotyping method.
Verdú
M E
ME
Servei de Microbiologia, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Sant Antoni M. Claret 167, E-08025, Barcelona, Spain.
Coll
P
P
Fontanals
D
D
March
F
F
Pons
I
I
Van Esso
D
D
Prats
G
G
D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S