DIFFERENTIATION OF PSEUDOMONAS-AVELLANAE STRAINS FROM GREECE AND ITALY BY REP-PCR GENOMIC FINGERPRINTING

In order to point out possible genetic differences, 37 Pseudomonas ave llanae strains isolated from northern Greece, northern Italy and two d ifferent areas of central Italy, were assessed by means of Repetitive PCR (rep-PCR) by using Enterobacteriaceae Repetitive Intergenic Consen sus (ERIC) primers. After PCR amplifications, the DNA fingerprints rev ealed three major groups. The strains from northern Greece and those f rom the two areas of central Italy were similar showing, in common, th ree major DNA products ranging from approximately 250 to 1100 base pai rs. However, strains from northern Greece can be differentiated from s trains of central Italy by the presence of two peculiar PCR products o f 800 and 350 base pairs. The strains from northern Italy showed very different PCR profiles. When a dendrogram based on cluster analyses wa s built up, such strains were very different from the strains from the other areas. Isolations carried out at different times did not affect PCR products.