POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION-BASED STRAIN CHARACTERIZATION OF NONCAPSULATE HAEMOPHILUS-INFLUENZAE

A polymerase chain reaction-based typing method for noncapsulate Haemo philus influenzae was developed. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fi ngerprints were generated from boiled supernatants prepared directly f rom bacterial colonies without the need for DNA extraction. The techni que was applied to isolates obtained during putative outbreaks of ches t infection and validated by comparison with sodium dodecyl sulfate-po lyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of outer membrane protein-en riched preparations and rRNA gene restriction analysis. There was comp lete concordance between the three techniques. The results show that r andomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis provides a highly discrimin atory method of characterizing strains of noncapsulate H. influenzae w hich is eminently suitable as an epidemiological tool for the rapid in vestigation of outbreaks of infection.