Occurrence of sef & pef genes among different serovars of Salmonella

A total of 29 strains of Salmonella enterica belonging to seven serovars isolated from human, animals and birds were used to study the occurrence of Salmonella fimbriae genes (sef and pef) by PCR amplification technique using their specific primers. All the strains (15) of S. Enteritidis were found to carry both sef and pef genes irrespective of the source of isolation. S. Typhimurium strains were found to harbour only pef genes, while S. Gallinarum strains harboured only sef genes. Other serovars namely, S. Newport, S. Kentucky, S. Weltevreden and S. Indiana were negative for both pef and sef genes. The importance of fimbriae in the pathogenesis of salmonellosis is suggested.