Amplified-fragment length polymorphism analysis versus macro-restriction fragment analysis for molecular typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates

Forty-eight pneumococci were genotyped by on-line laser fluorescence amplif ied-fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresi s (PFGE) analysis of chromosomal restriction fragments. Overall, the data g enerated by the two methods corresponded well. However, with AFLP, clusters were delineated at a higher similarity level, and isolate differentiation was more pronounced. AFLP and PFGE were equally efficient for assessing int raserotype diversity. We conclude that AFLP is a useful alternative to PFGE .