AN EVALUATION OF ERIC PCR AND AP PCR FINGERPRINTING FOR DISCRIMINATING SALMONELLA SEROTYPES

PCR fingerprints of 89 Salmonella isolates belonging to 22 serotypes w ere obtained using ERIC PCR (enterobacterial repetitive intergenic con sensus PCR) and AP PCR (arbitrarily primed PCR) to evaluate the abilit y of different fingerprinting methods to differentiate or identify ser otypes and subtypes. Fingerprints were scored and comparisons were mad e using a computer program. ERIC PCR produced a unique, complex finger print for almost every isolate, but these fingerprints did not identif y serotypes. One AP PCR primer also produced complex fingerprints that discriminated among isolates, but again did not identify serotypes. i i second AP PCR primer produced simple patterns, including one pattern shared by 35 isolates from 12 different serotypes. In general, the th ree sets of PCR fingerprints distinguished isolates, but were not corr elated with serotypes. Matching fingerprints from different gels by co mputer was difficult, since similarities were based on both intense an d faint bands. In addition, this study suggests that dendrograms creat ed from PCR fingerprints should be viewed with caution.