TYPING OF LEGIONELLA-PNEUMOPHILA STRAINS ISOLATED IN GREECE BY ARBITRARILY-PRIMED PCR

Genomic fingerprints from DNA of fifteen environmental and clinical st rains of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, isolated from diverse geo graphic areas of Greece, during the period 1986 to 1994, were generate d with arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) in order to use the discriminatory power of two arbitrary primers, BG2 and M13 Forward to clarify the relationship among the fifteen isolates. Both p rimers were found to have the ability to discriminate strains of the s ame serogroup, to identify strains related to each other eventhough th ey were isolated at different times. Therefore, AP-PCR using BG2 or M1 3 Forward as primers, appears to be a useful tool which provides a fas t and simple method for epidemiological fingerprinting.