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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2006, p. 2327-2332, Vol. 44, No. 7
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00052-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evaluation of a PCR Melting Profile Technique for Bacterial Strain Differentiation

Beata Krawczyk,1 Alfred Samet,2 Justyna Leibner,1 Anna Sledzinska,2 and Józef Kur1*

Gdansk University of Technology, Department of Microbiology, Gdansk, Poland,1 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Hospital No. 1, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland2

Received 10 January 2006/ Returned for modification 31 March 2006/ Accepted 23 April 2006

In search of an effective DNA typing technique for hospital epidemiology use, the performance and convenience of a PCR melting profile (PCR MP) technique based on using low denaturation temperatures during ligation-mediated PCR (LM PCR) of bacterial DNA was tested. A number of Escherichia coli isolates from patients of the Clinical Hospital in Gdansk, Poland, were examined. We found that the PCR MP technique is a rapid method that offers good discriminatory power and excellent reproducibility and may be applied for epidemiological studies. The usefulness of the PCR MP for molecular typing was compared with the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method, which is currently considered the gold standard for epidemiological studies of isolates recovered from patients and the environment. Clustering of PCR MP fingerprinting data matched pulsed-field gel electrophoresis data. The features of the PCR MP technique are discussed in comparison with conventional methods. Data presented here demonstrate the complexity of the epidemiological situation concerning E. coli that may occur in a hospital.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Gdansk University of Technology, Department of Microbiology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-952 Gdansk, Poland. Phone and fax: 48 58 3471822. E-mail: kur{at}altis.chem.pg.gda.pl.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2006, p. 2327-2332, Vol. 44, No. 7
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00052-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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