Molecular typing of strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bone and joint lesions in lame broilers by random amplification of polymorphic DNA

A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the presence of localized bacterial infection and lameness in broiler fowl (Gallus gallu s domesticus). Isolation of bacteria from the proximal femur, proximal tibi a, and tibiotarsus from broilers with lameness revealed a probable associat ion between lameness and the presence of Staphylococcus aureus. Other poten tial pathogens, including Escherichia coli and DNase-negative staphylococci , were also isolated from sound and lame birds, and their association with pathologies causing lameness was less well defined. After trials with a set of twenty 10-base oligonucleotide primers, a pair of primers giving optima l performance was selected. The S. aureus isolates were typed by random amp lification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) by using the pair of 10-mer primers, a nd groupings were defined by banding patterns after agarose gel electrophor esis. The putative RAPD groupings may provide a basis for epidemiological s tudies of S. aureus in broiler production systems.