Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 1999, p. 3906-3911, Vol. 37, No. 12
Departments of Oral
Biology1 and Pediatric
Dentistry,
Received 1 February 1999/Returned for modification 27 April
1999/Accepted 4 August 1999
Heteroduplex analysis has been used extensively to identify allelic
variation among mammalian genes. It provides a rapid and reliable
method for determining and cataloging minor differences between two
closely related DNA sequences. We have adapted this technique to
distinguish among strains or clonal types of Porphyromonas gingivalis. The ribosomal intergenic spacer region (ISR) was
amplified directly from a subgingival plaque sample by PCR with
species-specific primers, avoiding the need for culturing the bacteria.
The PCR products were then directly compared by heteroduplex analysis with known strains of P. gingivalis for identification. We
identified 22 distinct but closely related heteroduplex types of
P. gingivalis in 1,183 clinical samples. Multiple strains
were found in 34% of the samples in which P. gingivalis
was detected. Heteroduplex types were identified from these multistrain
samples without separating them by culturing or molecular cloning. PCR
with species-specific primers and heteroduplex analysis makes it
possible to reliably and sensitively detect and identify strains of
P. gingivalis in large numbers of samples.
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of Porphyromonas
gingivalis Strains by Heteroduplex Analysis and Detection of
Multiple Strains

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, 305 W. 12th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210. Phone: (614) 292-5273. Fax: (614) 292-6087. E-mail: leys.1{at}osu.edu.
Present address: Infectious Disease Consultants, Inc.,
Columbus, Ohio.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»