Genetic relatedness amongst intestinal spirochaetes isolated from rats and birds

Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis was used to determine genetic relationships amongst 32 intestinal spirochaetes (Serpulina spp.) isolated from rats (17), rheas (7), chickens, (4), ducks (2), a swan (1) and a flamingo (1). The strains were divided into 20 electrophoretic types (ETs), with a mean genetic diversity per locus of 0.62. The results were compared with those previously published for porcine intestinal spirochaetes. One strain from a healthy rat, and three rhea strains which were recovered from cases of necrotizing typhlitis, were grouped in the same ETs as certain porcine strains of Serpulina hyodysenteriae. The rhea strains could be differentiated from these by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Fifteen of the rat strains were genetically and phenotypically closely related. In contrast the avian strains were genetically more heterogeneous, with pathogenic isolates located in three different genetic groups.