Three molecular methods to identify Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium DT104: PCR fingerprinting, multiplex PCR and rapid PFGE.

Here we report the accuracy with which three molecular techniques (PCR fingerprinting, multiplex PCR and macrorestriction profiling) distinguished Salmonella enterica Typhimurium DT104 (hereafter referred to as DT104) from other related strains of Salmonella. Each technique was tested by screening a set of 20 isolates (10 DT104, eight non-DT104 Typhimurium, one S. enterica Agona, one S. enterica Newport) and each consistently differentiated DT104 from non-DT104 isolates based on visual inspection of band patterns. The accuracy of each technique was confirmed by computer analysis. As such, these data indicate that each technique could be used to presumptively identify DT104 isolates as a precursor to phage typing.