ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Biotecnologica 2016 June;28(2):104-13

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Molecular typing of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains by using RAPD-PCR

Sinem DÏKEN GÜR, Nilüfer AKSÖZ

Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Biotechnology, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) for determining the clonal relationships among Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and to compare this method with antibiotyping.
METHODS: Antibiotic resistance profiles of 74 P. aeruginosa strains, isolated from different clinical materials and various wards of three different hospitals were determined and strains were characterized by using RAPD-PCR. In addition, multidrug resistant (MDR) strains were determined.
RESULTS: As a result of the antibiotic resistance analysis, 11 different antibiotypes for Hospital 1 and Hospital 3, while 6 different antibiotypes for Hospital 2 were determined. The highest incidence of MDR strains was observed in Hospital 1. It was found that MDR strains were frequently isolated from patients who underwent surgical interventions or patients in the intensive care units. As a result of genotyping, 9 different genotypes were determined in Hospital 1, 7 in Hospital 2, and 17 in Hospital 3. There was no significant correlation between the antibiotypes and genotypes. A clonal relationship between the MDR strains that were isolated from both the same service and from different services was observed in Hospital 1. These findings support the hypothesis that the strains are spread within the hospital via cross or horizontal transmission through hospital employees or medical instruments. According to Simpson’s diversity index, the RAPD-PCR method’s discrimination power was found as 0.92.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that the RAPD-PCR method is suitable for genotyping of P. aeruginosa strains.