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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2000, p. 1544-1552, Vol. 66, No. 4
Observatoire Océanologique,
Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS UMR 7621, Institut
National des Sciences de l'Univers, F-66651 Banyuls-sur-Mer
Cedex,1 and Agence Française de
Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA), 75015 Paris
Cedex,2 France
Received 3 November 1999/Accepted 27 January 2000
Salmonella species are pathogenic bacteria often
detected in sewage, freshwater, marine coastal water, and groundwater.
Salmonella spp. can survive for long periods in natural
waters, and the persistence of specific and epidemic strains is of
great concern in public health. However, the diversity of species found
in the natural environment remains unknown. The aim of this
study was to investigate the diversity of Salmonella
strains isolated from different natural aquatic systems within a
Mediterranean coastal watershed (river, wastewater, and marine coastal
areas). A total of 574 strains isolated from these natural environments
were identified by both conventional serotyping and the ribosomal
spacer-heteroduplex polymorphism (RS-HP) method (M. A. Jensen and
N. Straus, PCR Methods Appl. 3:186-194, 1993). More than 40 different
serotypes were found, and some serotypes probably
mobilized from widespread animal-rearing activities were detected only
during storm events. These serotypes may be good indicators
of specific contamination sources. Furthermore, the RS-HP method based
on the PCR amplification of the intergenic spacer region between the
16S and 23S rRNA genes can produce amplicon profiles allowing the
discrimination of species at both serotype and intraserotype levels.
This method represents a powerful tool that could be used for rapid
typing of Salmonella isolates.
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Diversity of Salmonella Strains Isolated from the
Aquatic Environment as Determined by Serotyping and Amplification
of the Ribosomal DNA Spacer Regions
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Observatoire
Océanologique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS
UMR 7621, Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers, BP44,
F-66651 Banyuls-sur-Mer Cedex, France. Phone: (33) 4-6888-7353. Fax:
(33) 4-6888-7395. E-mail: lebaron{at}arago.obs-banyuls.fr.
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