POLYMORPHISM IN DNA RESTRICTION PATTERNS OF COXIELLA-BURNETII ISOLATES INVESTIGATED BY PULSED-FIELD GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS AND IMAGE-ANALYSIS

Pulsed field gel electrophoresis was used for differentiation of Coxie lla burnetii isolates derived from animals in Europe and one from Nami bia. Previously published data on isolates from North America demonstr ated four groups with distinct banding patterns. Fingerprints of proto type isolates as references confirmed four different cleavage patterns upon NotI restriction of total DNA as described. With isolates availa ble at our institute five additional DNA banding patterns were obtaine d from European and one Namibian isolate after endonuclease restrictio n with NotI. To compare patterns from different electrophoretic runs m ore precisely an image analysis system was used.