ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyse the molecular types of Listeria (L.) monocytogenes, and to construct the standard China L. monocytogenes pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping database, using the international standardized L. monocytogenes-PFGE protocol.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>118 L. monocytogenes strains isolated from 8 provinces or municipalities of China were subtyped according to L. monocytogenes-PFGE protocol.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>118 strains of L. monocytogenes were divided into 39 subtypes. In the 39 subtypes, 37 strains (31.36%) were GX6A160004 pattern, showing it was the predominant Lm subtype in China.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Data from molecular typing suggested that the predominant Lm strains were distributed in different regions of China. PulseNet China-Lm database was constructed which was valuable for the molecular subtyping-based surveillance of L. monocytogenes.</p>