Characterization of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and monophasic Salmonella serovar 1,4,[5],12:i:- isolates in Thailand.

Duplex PCR was developed to screen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium phage type DT104 and related strains in Thailand because a phage typing laboratory of serovar Typhimurium is not available. Of 46 isolates of serovar Typhimurium and 32 isolates of S. enterica serovar 1,4,[5],12:i:-, 15 (33%) and 30 (94%) were duplex PCR positive, respectively. All isolates were submitted for phage typing to analyze the specificity of the PCR assay. Among serovar Typhimurium isolates that yielded positive duplex PCRs, only seven isolates were phage types DT104 or U302, and eight isolates were undefined types, whereas the negative PCR isolates were either other phage types, including DT7, DT12, DT66, DT79, DT166, DT170, DT193, and DT208 or an undefined type. The serovar Typhimurium and serovar 1,4,[5],12:i:- isolates that were duplex PCR positive were further subtyped by using XbaI PFGE to reveal their genetic relatedness. All serovar Typhimurium phage type DT104 strains had indistinguishable chromosomal patterns. The isolates of phage type U302 and most of the serovar 1,4,[5],12:i:- isolates that were duplex PCR positive yielded similar pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. The patterns of PCR-negative isolates distinctly differed from the patterns of PCR-positive isolates. A total of 26% of all isolates had a dominant R-type ACSSuTG that was not found in the isolates of phage type DT104.

Variation between pathogenic serovars within Salmonella pathogenicity islands.

Although four of the five Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs) have been characterized in detail for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and the fifth has been characterized for Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin, there have been limited studies to examine them in detail in a range of pathogenic serovars of S. enterica. The aim of this study was to examine these regions, shown to be crucial in virulence, in pathogenic serovars to identify any major deletions or insertions that may explain variation in virulence and provide further understanding of the elements involved in the evolution of these regions. Multiple strains of each of the 13 serovars were compared by Southern blot hybridization using a series of probes that together encompassed the full length of all five SPIs. With the exception of serovar Typhimurium, all strains of the same serovar were identical in all five SPIs. Those serovars that differed from serovar Typhimurium in SPI-1 to SPI-4 and from serovar Dublin in SPI-5 were examined in more detail in the variant regions by PCR, and restriction endonuclease digestion and/or DNA sequencing. While most variation in hybridization patterns was attributable to loss or gain of single restriction endonuclease cleavage sites, three regions, in SPI-1, SPI-3, and SPI-5, had differences due to major insertions or deletions. In SPI-1 the avrA gene was replaced by a 200-base fragment in three serovars, as reported previously. In SPI-5, two serovars had acquired an insertion with similarity to the pagJ and pagK genes between pipC and pipD. In SPI-3 the genes sugR and rhuM were deleted in most serovars and in some were replaced by sequences that were very similar to either the Escherichia coli fimbrial operon, flanked by two distinct insertion sequence elements, or to the E. coli retron phage PhiR73. The distribution of these differences suggests that there have been a number of relatively recent horizontal transfers of genes into S. enterica and that in some cases the same event has occurred in multiple lineages of S. enterica. Thus, it seems that insertion sequences and retron phages are likely to be involved in continuing evolution of the pathogenicity islands of pathogenic Salmonella serovars.

Rapid PCR detection of Salmonella in horse faecal samples.

A rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed for detecting Salmonella in faeces of horses and assessed on samples from horses admitted to a veterinary hospital. Direct detection was achieved by amplification of part of ompC after extraction of DNA from faeces using a spin column method to reduce the amount of inhibitory substances in samples. An internal positive control was included to detect false negative results. While the sensitivity of the PCR assay was less than culture when assessed on faeces inoculated with Salmonella, its sensitivity on faecal samples obtained from horses was much greater than culture. Salmonella DNA was detected in 40% of faecal samples using the PCR assay while Salmonella were cultured from only 2% of the samples. The PCR assay has potential for use in either routine diagnosis or for detection of the carrier status in animals.

Molecular epidemiology of Salmonella Heidelberg in an equine hospital.

From 1992 to 1997, multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella Heidelberg isolates were cultured from a number of horses hospitalised in a veterinary hospital in Victoria, Australia. To examine the relationships between the cases, 28 isolates from the hospital were compared by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), IS200 element profiles, antimicrobial resistance patterns, plasmid profiles and phage typing. The PFGE patterns following digestion with XbaI and BlnI restriction endonucleases showed that the isolates from the veterinary hospital originated from a common source. These isolates also had indistinguishable IS200 profiles. However, PFGE was more discriminatory than IS200 profiles. All the veterinary hospital isolates and one independent isolate had the same antimicrobial resistance pattern and had at least one plasmid in common. Localisation of antimicrobial resistance genes indicated that the veterinary hospital isolates had more than one plasmid carrying resistance genes and that the genes encoding sulphathiazole and trimethoprim resistance were not on these plasmids. Phage typing was ineffective as 22 of the 28 isolates were untypeable. In conclusion, the combination of different methods used for epidemiological studies suggested that a single strain of MDR S. Heidelberg was isolated from horses admitted to the hospital for 6 years and caused salmonellosis in susceptible horses within that period with no apparent correlation between the antimicrobials used and retention of its MDR phenotype.