Differentiation of Enterococcus spp. by cell membrane fatty acid methyl ester profiling, biotyping and ribotyping

Aims: Gas chromatographic analysis of cell membrane fatty acid methyl ester s (FAME), biochemical profiling (biotyping) and EcoRI restriction endonucle ase profiling of DNA containing ribosomal RNA sequences (ribotyping) were c ompared for differentiation of Enterococcus spp. Methods and Results: FAME profiling, biotype profiling and ribotyping of 41 strains from retail Swiss-type cheeses and five strains from culture colle ctions resulted in 17, 25 and 26 groups, respectively, with only two pairs of strains having the same FAME group, biotype profile and ribogroup. Conclusions: Substantial overlap occurred in groupings assigned by the thre e methods. Significance and Impact of the Study: Differentiation of Enterococcus spp. strains increases if multiple methods are used.