EPIDEMIOLOGIC TYPING OF YERSINIA-ENTEROCOLITICA BY ANALYSIS OF RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISMS WITH A CLONED RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENE

Intra-species restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of Yersinia enterocolitica were detected in assays with a cloned DNA fragment from Legionella pneumophila that included the 16S and 23S rRNA genes. By use of this method it was possible to identify different RFLP types within biogroups/serogroups which were indistinguishable by other means. Thus the 37 biogroup IV/serogroups O3 strains isolated worldwide form pig carcasses, pork and human patients, were subdivided into five different RFLP-types. Typing based on RFLP analysis was sensitive and independent of phenotypic characters. The method will be of value for the identification and evaluation of possible reservoirs and routes of infection.