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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2002, p. 59-64, Vol. 68, No. 1
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.1.59-64.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms Detected with Novel DNA Probes Differentiate among Diverse Lineages of Serogroup 4 Listeria monocytogenes and Identify Four Distinct Lineages in Serotype 4b

Huyen L. Tran1,{dagger} and Sophia Kathariou2*

Department of Microbiology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii,1 Department of Food Science and Graduate Program in Genomics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina2

Received 7 June 2001/ Accepted 1 October 2001

Listeria monocytogenes of serotype 4b has been implicated in numerous outbreaks of food-borne listeriosis and in ca. 40% of sporadic cases. Strains of this serotype appear to be relatively homogeneous genetically, and molecular markers specific for distinct serotype 4b lineages have not been frequently identified. Here we show that DNA fragments derived from the putative mannitol permease locus of Listeria monocytogenes had an unexpectedly high potential to differentiate among different strains of serotype 4b when used as probes in Southern blotting of EcoRI-digested genomic DNA, yielding four distinct restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns. Strains of two epidemic-associated lineages, including the major epidemic clone implicated in several outbreaks in Europe and North America, had distinct RFLPs which differed from those of all other serotype 4b strains that we screened but which were encountered among strains of serotypes 1/2b and 3b. In addition, three serogroup 4 lineages were found to have unique RFLPs that were not encountered among any other L. monocytogenes strains. One was an unusual lineage of serotype 4b, and the other two were members of the serotype 4a and 4c group. The observed polymorphisms may reflect evolutionary relationships among lineages of L. monocytogenes and may facilitate detection and population genetic analysis of specific lineages.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: North Carolina State University, Department of Food Science and Graduate Program in Genomics, 339 Schaub Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695. Phone: (919) 513-2075. Fax: (919) 515-7124. E-mail: skathar{at}unity.ncsu.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Xencor, Monrovia, CA 91016.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2002, p. 59-64, Vol. 68, No. 1
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.1.59-64.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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