Molecular analyses of Salmonella serotype Typhi and Salmonella serotype Paratyphi B strains isolated in Turkey

Aim: To investigate the characteristics of Salmonella serotype Typhi and Salmonella serotype Paratyphi B, which still remain significant in Turkey. Materials and methods: Eighteen S Typhi and 42 S. Paratyphi B strains Isolated from clinical samples were investigated by plasmid profile analysis, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR), and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) methods Results: Plasmid profile analysis showed that 10 out of 18 (56%) S. Typhi isolates harbored 1 to 3 plasmids, and 11 out of 42 (26 2%) S Paratyphi B isolates harbored I to 4 plasmids. PFGE performed with restriction enzyme AvrII grouped both S Typhi and S Paratyphi B isolates Into 14 clusters; with restriction enzyme XbaI, S Typhi and S Paratyphi B isolates were grouped Into 13 and 12 clusters, respectively Conclusion: These results showed that plasmid profile analysis and PFGE are reliable and discriminative methods complementing the phenotypic characters of S. Typhi and S Paratyphi B isolates, and may contribute to the epidemiologic investigation of typhoid or paratyphoid diseases. The study presented here is the first report on S. Typhi and S Paratyphi B Isolates from Turkey investigated by plasmid profile analysis, ERIC-PCR, and PFGE methods.