Multilocus sequence typing of Arcobacter butzleri isolates collected from dairy plants and their products, and...

The present study aimed to determine, by multilocus sequence type (MLST), the heterogeneity level of Arcobacter butzleri isolates and to compare MLST and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in terms of discriminatory power (DI) as well as unidirectional and bi-directional concordance.

Arcobacter butzleri isolates (N = 133) from dairy products and environmental samples, collected from dairy plants, were characterized by MLST and PFGE with SacII and classified in 29 sequence types (STs), 47 PFGE and 62 type strains (TS). Among the 119 alleles, 19 were previously unreported and the same for all the STs but two. A significant linkage disequilibrium was detected when the complete ST data set was analysed The DIs of MLST, PFGE and their combination were 0·937, 0·953 and 0·965 respectively. The adjusted Wallace coefficients between MLST and PFGE as well as PFGE and MLST were 0·535 and 0·720 respectively; the adjusted Rand coefficient was 0·612.

The A. butzleri studied population showed recombination to some degree. PFGE showed a DI higher than MLST. Both methods presented good concordance. The TS analysis seems to show persistence of the same strain on time and possible cross-contaminations between food and environmental sites.

This study provides insights in the A. butzleri population found in raw milk, cheese, and dairy production plants. The data suggest that MLST and PFGE genotypes correlate reasonably well, although their combination results in optimal resolution.