Multilocus sequence typing reveals a lack of diversity among Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates that are distinct by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

ABSTRACT: Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is the molecular epidemiologic method mostly commonly used to identify food-borne outbreaks. Although PFGE is a powerful epidemiologic tool, it has disadvantages that make a DNA sequence-based approach potentially attractive. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analyzes the internal fragments of housekeeping genes to establish genetic relatedness between isolates. We sequenced selected portions of seven housekeeping genes and two membrane protein genes (ompA and espA) of 77 isolates that were diverse by PFGE to determine whether there was sufficient sequence variation to be useful as an epidemiologic tool. There was no DNA sequence diversity in the sequenced portions o

SUBMITTER: Noller AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC149678 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature