Comparison of four molecular typing methods for the differentiation of Salmonella spp

A total of 57 strains of Salmonella spp. were differentiated by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting using three different primers (OPL-03, primer 1, and primer A); by Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) fingerprinting; by ribotyping-PCR; and by Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP). From the 57 strains, RAPD fingerprinting with primers OPL-03, 1, and A produced 42, 51, and 54 fingerprint patterns respectively. ERIC fingerprinting produced 50 patterns; ribotyping-PCR produced four patterns, and SSCP produced 11 patterns. Combinations of two different typing methods generally increased the discrimination of Salmonella strains. A combination of two different RAPDs or a combination of RAPD and ERIC was better than the other combinations. Discrimination using a combination of RAPD (primer 1 or primer A) and ERIC, which could differentiate all 57 Salmonella strains, was better than the combination of two RAPDs. This study indicated that the use of a combination of RAPD (primer 1 or primer A) and ERIC should be useful for the differentiation of field-isolated Salmonella strains and epidemiological studies.