Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis in differentiation of Erysipelothrix species strains

We report here the first analysis of Erysipelothrix spp. using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Seventy strains of Erysipelothrix spp. were an alyzed. SmaI, AscI, and NotI were tested for the ability to cleave the DNA extracted from those strains, and among them, SmaI was the most reliable en zyme. Sixty-three distinct PFGE patterns were produced, and no DNA degradat ion was observed, allowing the identification of all of the strains. Based on these results and on those of a previous analysis using randomly amplifi ed polymorphic DNA and ribotyping, PFGE with SmaI might be considered to be more sensitive than those methods and to be the best method for epidemiolo gical studies of strains of this genus.