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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2007, p. 102-108, Vol. 45, No. 1
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01012-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Clonal Complexes of Campylobacter jejuni Identified by Multilocus Sequence Typing Are Reliably Predicted by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analyses of the flaA Gene

Steven P. Djordjevic,^1* Leanne E. Unicomb,² Penelope J. Adamson,^3, Lance Mickan,⁴ Rosa Rios,⁵ and the Australian Campylobacter Subtyping Study Group

Department of Primary Industries, Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, Camden, New South Wales,¹ OzFoodNet, Hunter New England Population Health, Wallsend, New South Wales, and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra,² Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia,³ Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia,⁴ Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, Parkville, Victoria, Australia⁵

Received 15 May 2006/ Returned for modification 11 July 2006/ Accepted 7 October 2006

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has provided important new insights into the population structure of Campylobacter jejuni and is rapidly becoming the gold standard for typing this species. However, the methodology is comparatively costly and slow to perform for the routine surveillance testing of large numbers of isolates required by public health laboratories. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the flaA gene (RFLP-flaA) and sequencing of the variable region in the fla locus (SVR-fla) were compared to MLST to determine if a low cost alternative could be found that reliably predicts clonal lineage (as determined by MLST). An isolate of C. jejuni from each of 153 patients from New South Wales, Australia, collected sequentially over a period of 30 months from 1999 to 2001 and comprising 40 sequence types (ST) from 15 clonal complexes (CC) was examined. Of 15 CC, 12 were represented by more than one isolate and a predominant RFLP-flaA type was found for 10 (83%). Of these, seven (70%) correctly predicted the predominant MLST CC with a probability of >0.8. Of 40 STs detected, 19 were reported for the first time, 9 of which were represented by more than one isolate. Eight of these were represented by a single RFLP-flaA type. Only two of eight major SVR-fla types were able to predict CC with a probability of >0.8, indicating that flaA-RFLP is a more reliable predictor of CC than SVR-fla and thus offers an alternative to MLST for use in routine surveillance.

Published ahead of print on 8 November 2006.

Present address: Academic Unit of Molecular Vascular Medicine, The LIGHT Laboratories, Clarendon Way, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.

S.P.D., L.E.U., P.J.A., L.M., and R.R. are members of the Australian Campylobacter Subtyping Study Group. Other members (listed in alphabetical order) include Penny Adamson (Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia), Kellie Cheung (Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales), Barry Combs (Department of Human Services, Adelaide, South Australia), Craig Dalton (Hunter New England Population Health, Newcastle, New South Wales), Robyn Doyle (Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia), John Ferguson (Hunter New England Health Service, Newcastle, New South Wales), Lyn Gilbert (Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales), Rod Givney (Department of Human Services, Adelaide, South Australia), David Gordon (Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia), Joy Gregory (Department of Human Services, Melbourne, Victoria), Geoff Hogg (Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria), Tim Inglis (Division of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, PathWest, Nedlands, Western Australia), Peter Jelfs (Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales), Martyn Kirk (OzFoodNet, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory), Karin Lalor (Department of Human Services, Melbourne, Victoria), Jan Lanser (Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales), Lyn O'Reilly (Division of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, PathWest, Nedlands, Western Australia), Minda Sarna (Department of Health, Perth, Western Australia), Hemant Sharma (Hunter New England Health Service, Newcastle New South Wales), Helen Smith (Queensland Health Scientific Services, Coopers Plains, Queensland), and Mary Valcanis (Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria).

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