title: Molecular analysis of the Enterobacter sakazakii O-antigen gene locus.
abstract: Nucleotide polymorphism associated with the O-antigen-encoding locus, rfb, in Enterobacter sakazakii was determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Based on the analysis of these DNA profiles, 12 unique banding patterns were detected among a collection of 62 strains from diverse origins. Two common profiles were identified and were designated serotypes O:1 and O:2. DNA sequencing of the 12,500-bp region flanked by galF and gnd identified 11 open reading frames, all with the same transcriptional direction. Analysis of the proximal region of both sequences demonstrated remarkable heterogeneity. A PCR assay targeting genes specific for the two prominent serotypes was developed and applied for the identification of these strains recovered from food, environmental, and clinical samples.
authors.affiliation: Centres for Food Safety & Food-borne Zoonomics, UCD Veterinary Sciences Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mullane
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Gaora
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Nally
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Iversen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanning
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D044083:Cronobacter sakazakii / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004756:Enterobacteriaceae Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D023061:Gene Order; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019081:O Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D019081:O Antigens; C079397:rfb protein, Bacteria