4 research outputs found
RFLP analysis of a PCR-amplified fragment of the 16S rRNA gene as a tool to identify Enterococcus strains
Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of a
PCR-amplified fragment of the 16S rRNA gene was performed on reference
strains belonging to 21 different enterococcal species and on 75
Enterococcus isolates recovered from poultry meat, pasteurised milk and
fresh cheese. PCR amplification generated a 275 bp fragment, which was
digested with three restriction endonucleases (DdeI, HaeIII, HinfI).
The strains were divided into five groups (groups A-E) on the basis of
their restriction patterns. Five biochemical tests (arabinose,
arginine, manitol, methyl-β-D-glucopyranoside and raffinose) were
then performed in addition to RFLP analysis to narrow the
identification of enterococcal strains to the species level. PCR-RFLP,
in conjunction with the selected biochemical tests, allowed the precise
identification of the 21 species of Enterococcus included in the
present study. This proposed method is relatively simple and rapid and
can be useful as an adjunct tool for accurate identification of
Enterococcus