Genetic diversity among strains of Moraxella catarrhalis: analysis using multiple DNA probes and a single-locus PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method.

ABSTRACT: Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis, a causative agent of otitis media, sinusitis, and exacerbation of bronchitis, has acquired widespread ability to produce beta-lactamase and can be nosocomially transmitted. The typing methods used in epidemiological analyses of M. catarrhalis are not optimal for genetic analyses. Two methods, a multiple-locus Southern blot (SB) method and a single-locus PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method, were developed and used to assess genetic diversity and potential clinical and geographic relationships in M. catarrhalis. Nine randomly cloned M. catarrhalis DNA fragments were used as probes of SBs containing DNA from 54 geographically and clinically diverse strains. For comparison, a PCR-RFLP method was developed as a quick, inexpensive, and

SUBMITTER: Walker ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC104964 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature