Genetic diversity of food-isolated Salmonella strains through Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC-PCR)

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 3;8(12):e81315. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081315. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

All over the world, the incidence of Salmonella spp contamination on different food sources like broilers, clams and cow milk has increased rapidly in recent years. The multifaceted properties of Salomnella serovars allow the microorganism to grow and multiply in various food matrices, even under adverse conditions. Therefore, methods are needed to detect and trace this pathogen along the entire food supply network. In the present work, PFGE and ERIC-PCR were used to subtype 45 Salmonella isolates belonging to different serovars and derived from different food origins. Among these isolates, S. Enteritidis and S. Kentucky were found to be the most predominant serovars. The Discrimination Index obtained by ERIC-PCR (0.85) was slightly below the acceptable confidence value. The best discriminatory ability was observed when PFGE typing method was used alone (DI = 0.94) or combined with ERIC-PCR (DI = 0.93). A wide variety of profiles was observed between the different serovars using PFGE or/and ERIC-PCR. This diversity is particularly important when the sample origins are varied and even within the same sampling origin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • DNA Fingerprinting / methods*
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field*
  • Food Microbiology*
  • Genetic Variation*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Salmonella / classification*
  • Salmonella / genetics*
  • Salmonella / isolation & purification
  • Serotyping / methods*

Grants and funding

This work received financial support from “Ministère de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche scientifique” granted to the “Unité de Recherche de Toxicologie, Microbiologie Environnementale et Santé”. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.