Genotypic variation in 'Campylobacter upsaliensis' from blood and faeces of patients in different countries

Chromosomal DNA from 62 strains of 'Campylobacter upsaliensis' from blood and faecal specimens of patients in Australia, Belgium, South Africa and England, and seven dog isolates from England and Sweden were examined. DNA base compositions of 21 strains were 35 +/- 1 mol% G + C. Electrophoresis of HaeIII DNA digests gave patterns comprising about 20 well resolved bands of 2 to 10 kb, and visual comparisons revealed considerable genomic variation with 26 different digest patterns identifiable. Differences were evident between genomic DNA patterns of strains from different geographical locations, and between human and dog strains. Each set of human strains from the four geographical locations was comprised of 5 to 8 DNA pattern types. The HaeIII DNA digest patterns were generally more discriminatory than the HindIII, PvuII, CfoI, SmaI and XhoI patterns although some DNAs (12%) were not cut with HaeIII. We conclude the method provides an excellent basis for typing most strains of 'C. upsaliensis'.