Genetic characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from contact lenses and other sources by RAPD analysis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (24 isolates) collected from contact lens storage cases, contact lenses and contact lenses wearer in Saudi Arabia. PCR amplification of all isolates revealed one fragment with 230 bp that represented 16S rDNA gene. A total of 48 amplified DNA fragments (from 3500 to 90 bp) were observed using three RAPD primers; B-01, B-11 and B-14. Whereas, 42 fragments were polymorphic and the other 6 amplified fragments were commonly detected among all Pa isolates. The three primers showed a mean polymorphism of 87%, whereas, the polymorphic % B-01 primer was higher (89%) followed by primer B-11 and B-14 with 88 and 83%, respectively. The constructed UPGMA dendrogram showed two main clusters; the first included 10 isolates with a medium bootstrap 83%, the second included the remaining 14 isolates with two sub-clusters. The first sub-cluster divided to two branches; the first contained isolates 21 & 23 and the second was divided more to two sub-branches. The second sub-cluster was divided to isolate 2 that occupied unique branch and two other branches that divided again to several sub-branches. Isolate 8 revealed most high similarity with isolate 7(77%) followed by isolates 18 and 17 (74%). Isolates 3 & 1 and 22 & 15 showed similar percentage (72%). Isolates 7 and 3 displayed (70%). Conclusion: high DNA polymorphism occurrence of amplified fragments & Variable genetic similarities of Pa isolates (24) was noticed. The fluctuation of genetic similarity percentages of each of the isolates with others revealed the divergent genetic backgrounds of different serotypes. [SALHA HM Al-ZAHRNI, NARIMAN AH ALY and MAHA A Al-HARBI. Genetic characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from contact lenses and other sources by RAPD analysis. Life Science Journal. 2012;9(1):835-843](ISSN: 1097-8135) http://www.lifesciencesite.com.121