title: Genetic diversity of Gallibacterium anatis isolates from different chicken flocks.
abstract: Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) were used to characterize the genotypic diversity of a total of 114 Gallibacterium anatis isolates originating from a reference collection representing 15 biovars from four countries and isolates obtained from tracheal and cloacal swab samples of chickens from an organic, egg-producing flock and a layer parent flock. A subset of strains was also characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and biotyping. The organic flock isolates were characterized by more than 94% genetic similarity, indicating that only a single clone was apparent in the flock. The layer parent flock isolates were grouped into two subclusters, each with similarity above 90%. One subcluster contained only tracheal isolates, while the other primarily included cloacal isolates. In conclusion, we show that AFLP analysis enables fingerprinting of G. anatis, which seems to have a clonal population structure within natural populations. There was further evidence of clonal lineages, which may have adapted to different sites within the same animal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C. The Danish Veterinary Institute, DK-1790 Copenhagen V, Denmark. miki@kvl.dk
authors.forename: Anders Miki
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bojesen
authors.forename: Mia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torpdahl
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: John Elmerdahl
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.forename: Magne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bisgaard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002645:Chickens / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*; D002988:Cloaca / Q000382:microbiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015661:Pasteurellaceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D014132:Trachea / Q000382:microbiology