[The use of the polymerase chain reaction method for the identification of representatives of the genus Enterococcus]

The possibility of the use of repetitive extragenic palindrome (REP)-specific primers to PCR-fingerprint analysis of Enterococcus genomes has been shown for the first time. Presence of the similar PCR products, and first of all the fragment 950 bp in size, has been observed in all the strains studied. Differences in PCR-product composition displayed genetical heterogeneity between Enterococcus faecium strains. These data evidence for the wide distribution of the REP, and rather high level of homology of the REP sequences among enterobacterial genomes.