COMPARISON OF POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION AND PULSED-FIELD GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC TYPING OF CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI

Seventeen sporadic Campylobacter jejuni enteritis cases occurred in Ta ichung City, Taiwan between July 1995 and September 1995. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-1) primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques w ere compared for the epidemiological typing of the 17 C. jejuni isolat es. Fourteen distinct PFGE fingerprint patterns were observed. Fifteen distinct PCR fingerprint patterns were demonstrated. Two clusters of isolates (isolates 5 and 6; isolates 10, 11 respectively) were found t o be genetically indistinguishable by both methods. In conclusion, we consider that PFGE is a highly reproducible method for determining the relatedness among the C. jejuni isolates in this study, although thei r limited numbers of restriction fragments may reduce the discriminato ry power. Although less reproducible than PFGE typing, ERIC-1 primed P CR can be used as a simple and rapid tool to discriminate different st rains of C. jejuni. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.