title: Discrimination of major capsular types of Campylobacter jejuni by multiplex PCR.
abstract: The polysaccharide capsule (CPS) of Campylobacter jejuni is the major serodeterminant of the Penner serotyping scheme. There are 47 Penner serotypes of C. jejuni, 22 of which fall into complexes of related serotypes. A multiplex PCR method for determination of capsule types of Campylobacter jejuni which is simpler and more affordable than classical Penner typing was developed. Primers specific for each capsule type were designed on the basis of a database of gene sequences from the variable capsule loci of 8 strains of major serotypes sequenced in this study and 10 published sequences of other serotypes. DNA sequence analysis revealed a mosaic nature of the capsule loci, suggesting reassortment of genes by horizontal transfer, and demonstrated a high degree of conservation of genes within Penner complexes. The multiplex PCR can distinguish 17 individual serotypes in two PCRs with sensitivities and specificities ranging from 90 to 100% using 244 strains of known Penner type.
authors.affiliation: Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poly
authors.forename: Oralak
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Serichatalergs
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulman
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Cory N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Cates
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanipes
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guerry
mesh_terms: D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000235:genetics*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial