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Characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae strains by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis
S Chatellier1, C Ramanantsoa, P Harriau
1Département de Microbiologie Médicale et Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique EP 117, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Bretonneau, Tours, France.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
|October 8, 1997
Summary
Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing effectively differentiated Streptococcus agalactiae strains from neonates and carriers. This method, combined with serotyping, offers a highly discriminatory scheme for bacterial strain identification.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus) is a significant cause of neonatal infections.
- Previous studies utilized multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MEE) for strain characterization.
- A need exists for robust and discriminatory typing methods for S. agalactiae.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize Streptococcus agalactiae strains using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay.
- To compare RAPD typing with previous multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MEE) classifications.
- To evaluate the discriminatory power of RAPD typing for epidemiological studies.
Main Methods:
- Characterization of 114 Streptococcus agalactiae strains (54 from neonates, 60 from carriers) using RAPD assay.
- Selection and application of four specific primers (OPS16, AP42, A4, OPS11) from 29 tested.
- Clustering analysis of RAPD data to identify strain groupings.
Main Results:
- Identification of 71 distinct RAPD types among the S. agalactiae strains.
- RAPD data clustering confirmed the three major strain families previously defined by MEE.
- Specific RAPD patterns or fragments were associated with each of the three main strain groups.
- A combined scheme of RAPD typing (primers AP42 and OPS11) and serotyping achieved a high index of discrimination (0.97).
Conclusions:
- RAPD typing is a valuable tool for differentiating Streptococcus agalactiae strains.
- RAPD analysis successfully corroborated MEE-based strain classifications.
- The combination of RAPD and serotyping provides a highly discriminatory method for S. agalactiae strain typing.