RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF CAMPYLOBACTER SPECIES BY RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISM ANALYSIS OF A PCR-AMPLIFIED FRAGMENT OF THE GENE CODING FOR 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA

Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of a PCR-amplified D NA fragment of the gene coding for 16S rRNA was performed on 148 previ ously characterized strains of Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Arcobacter , and Wolinella succinogenes and 13 Campylobacter like isolates, These strains included clinical, animal, and environmental isolates, PCR am plification generated a 283-bp fragment from all species. The amplicon from each strain was digested with six restriction endonucleases (Acc I, AvaI, DdeI, HaeIII, HpaII, XhoI). DdeI,vas useful for the initial g rouping of the strains, Additional discrimination within the different DdeI groups was obtained with AccI, HaeIII, HpaII, and XhoI digestion s. The PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis allowed f or the discrimination of members of the genus Campylobacter from membe rs of closely related genera and discrimination between Campylobacter species. The proposed method is simple and rapid and can be useful for the routine identification of Campylobacter-like organisms in clinica l or epidemiologic studies.