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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2007, p. 865-873, Vol. 45, No. 3
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01285-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) Analysis of Temporally Matched Listeria monocytogenes Isolates from Human Clinical Cases, Foods, Ruminant Farms, and Urban and Natural Environments Reveals Source-Associated as Well as Widely Distributed PFGE Types ^,

Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853,¹ Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York 12208,² New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Albany, New York 12235³

Received 22 June 2006/ Returned for modification 31 August 2006/ Accepted 17 December 2006

A total of 495 temporally and geographically matched Listeria monocytogenes isolates from human clinical cases, foods, ruminant farms, and urban and natural environments were used to investigate L. monocytogenes pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) type diversity. Two-enzyme (AscI and ApaI) PFGE discriminated 310 PFGE types and exhibited higher overall discriminatory power (Simpson's index of discrimination [D] = 0.995) than either EcoRI ribotyping (D = 0.950) or AscI or ApaI single-enzyme PFGE (D = 0.992 for both). Seven PFGE types showed significant associations with specific sources, including one and four PFGE types, respectively, associated with human clinical cases and foods. Spatial analysis of 13 PFGE types occurring >5 times showed that two PFGE types were specific to a single processing facility each, where they appear to have persisted over time. Nine PFGE types were geographically widespread and occurred among isolates from multiple sources. For example, a PFGE type that matched isolates from listeriosis outbreaks in Los Angeles and Switzerland occurred among isolates from farms (n = 7), human clinical cases (n = 4), environmental sources (n = 3), and foods (n = 1). Our data indicate that (i) PFGE is highly discriminatory for the subtyping of L. monocytogenes, (ii) some L. monocytogenes PFGE types are associated with specific sources, and (iii) some L. monocytogenes PFGE types are widely distributed and appear to be stable and pandemic. Large PFGE type databases representing isolates from different sources are thus needed to appropriately interpret subtype data in epidemiological investigations and to identify common as well as source-specific PFGE types.

Published ahead of print on 3 January 2007.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jcm.asm.org/.

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