MULTICENTRIC EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY OF ASPERGILLUS-FUMIGATUS ISOLATES BYMULTILOCUS ENZYME ELECTROPHORESIS

The genotypes of 63 isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus obtained from th ree hospitals in different geographical areas and of eight culture col lection strains were determined by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, Twelve of the 17 enzymatic loci studied were polymorphic, giving rise to 48 different electrophoretic types. The existence of fixed multiloc us genotypes, significant heterozygote deficits and excesses at the di fferent loci, and linkage disequilibria within subpopulations strongly suggests a clonal reproduction mode for A. fumigatus. Numerical analy sis of the comparison and disposition of the different electrophoretic types demonstrates a significant genetic differentiation between the three sampling sites. However, no correlation could be found between g eographical distances and genetic differentiation. On account of the m ultiple discriminatory markers, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis typi ng seems to be a very powerful tool for epidemiological and reproducti ve mode studies of A. fumigatus.