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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2008, p. 31-42, Vol. 46, No. 1
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00986-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

fimA Genotypes and Multilocus Sequence Types of Porphyromonas gingivalis from Patients with Periodontitis

Morten Enersen,^1,2* Ingar Olsen,¹ Øyvind Kvalheim,¹ and Dominique A. Caugant^1,2

Institute of Oral Biology, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway,¹ Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0403 Oslo, Norway²

Received 11 May 2007/ Returned for modification 5 July 2007/ Accepted 22 October 2007

Fimbriae are important virulence factors of pathogenic bacteria, facilitating their attachment to host and bacterial cells. In the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, the fimA gene is classified into six types (genotypes I, Ib, II, III, IV, and V) on the basis of different nucleotide sequences, with fimA genotypes II and IV being prevalent in isolates from patients with periodontitis. The aims of this study were to examine the distribution of fimA genotypes in a collection of 82 P. gingivalis isolates from adult periodontitis patients of worldwide origin and to investigate the relationship between the fimA genotypes and the sequence types (STs), as determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), of the isolates. The fimA gene was amplified by PCR with primer sets specific for each genotype. The STs of all strains were assigned according to the MLST database for P. gingivalis (www.pubmlst.org/pgingivalis). The 82 strains showed extensive genetic diversity and were assigned to 69 STs. Only isolates with closely related STs harbored the same fimA genotype. Twenty-eight (34.1%) strains harbored fimA genotype II, while only the reference strain for fimA genotype V reacted with the primers specific for this genotype. Twenty-one isolates (25.6%) were positive by more than one of the fimA PCR assays; the most frequent combinations were genotypes I, Ib, and II (eight isolates) and genotypes I and II (four isolates). Sequencing of the fimA gene from selected isolates did not support the observed specific fimA genotype combinations, suggesting that the genotyping method used for the major fimbriae in P. gingivalis should be reevaluated.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1052, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway. Phone: 47 22840353. Fax: 47 840301. E-mail: morteene{at}odont.uio.no

Published ahead of print on 31 October 2007.

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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2008, p. 31-42, Vol. 46, No. 1
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00986-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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