Typing of Aeromonas spp. by numerical analysis of immunoblotted SDS-PAGE gels

One hundred and three isolates of Aeromonas spp., collected from both environmental sources and patients, were examined by SDS-PAGE of whole cells followed by immunoblotting with polyclonal rabbit antiserum raised against whole cells of A. sobria. All isolates were typable, yielding 15-20 well separated bands. Reproducibility of the technique was good and discrimination excellent, yielding 30 types amongst 103 isolates. Immunoblot type was not related to biochemical phenotype. Attempts to correlate immunoblot type with serotype were unsuccessful because only 42% of the strains tested could be serotyped.