Objective To understand the
genetic polymorphism of
Salmonella and
Staphylococcus aureus in Guangdong province, as well as to explore
methods for identifying and tracing the source of these two foodbome pathogens.
Methods Using the automated
ribotyping system, two foodbome pathogens were tested with either EcoR Ⅰ or Pvu Ⅱ restriction
enzymes. BioNumerics
software was then applied for image
analysis, database establishment and other corresponding
analysis. Results
Digestion of 32
Salmonella isolates with Pvu Ⅱ yielded 19 different
ribotypes,and
digestion of 14
Salmonella isolates with EcoR Ⅰ yielded 2 different
ribotypes. Staphyloccus aureus isolates showed greater
genetic diversity, whereas EcoR Ⅰ
digestion of 49 different isolates yielded 31 different
ribotypes. Conclusion Unique
Salmonella and
Staphylococcus aureus isolates could be identified through
ribotyping. Although
Salmonella serotyping and
ribotyping were not strongly correlated, the combination of both restriction
enzymes could be used to more effectively identify the genetic relationship among different
strains as well as the source of
food poisoning. Thus, not only could the genetic relationships amongst the different
strains be inferred through
ribotyping skills, the source of
food poisoning and mode of
transmission could also be determined under the use of this
method.