Cluster analysis of AP-PCR generated DNA fingerprints of Vibrio vulnificusisolates from patients fatally infected after consumption of raw oysters

Arbitrarily-primed-polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) DNA fingerprints were generated for 10 Vibrio vulnificus strains isolated from patients who beca me infected and died between 1993 and 1996 as a result of consuming raw oys ters. Analysis of the DNA fingerprints with gel imaging and cluster analysi s software revealed significant genetic heterogeneity among these strains, suggesting that V. vulnificus has a high degree of variation in its genomic organization, and that multiple pathogenic strains with greatly diverse ge nomic arrangements, rather than a single type of infective strain or serogr oup, caused these infections.