Regular paper
Detection and molecular typing ofCampylobacter jejuniin fecal samples by polymerase chain reaction

https://doi.org/10.1006/mcpr.1996.0011Get rights and content
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Abstract

In order to determine whether polymerase chain reaction (PCR) could be used to detectCampylobacter jejunidirectly in stool samples, DNA from 66 frozen culture positive and negative fecal samples was purified by column chromatography. TheflaA gene was amplified using primers directed against the conserved 5′ and 3′ regions and produced a 1·7 kb amplicon. Fifteen of 18 (83%)C. jejuniculture positive samples were detected by agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining. The test was negative in one sample containingC. coli. Twelve samples containing other enteric pathogens were negative as were 34 of 35 culture negative samples. Flagellin gene typing (see reference14) of theflaA gene product from two stool samples in which the patients' stool isolate was also available showed the identical flagellin gene types suggesting that molecular typing ofCampylobactercould potentially be performed on stool samples without the need for culture.

Keywords

Campylobacter
flagellin gene
polymerase chain reaction
molecular epidemiology

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Correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr Irving Nachamkin, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, U.S.A.