Aeromonas hydrophila: variability in biochemical characteristics of environmental isolates.

A total of 161 strains, including 144 aeromonads, of which 100 had been isolated from water and sediment samples from the Chesapeake Bay, five clinical and 33 Anacostia River isolates of Aeromonas hydrophila, six Aeromonas sobria, and ten reference cultures were examined in a numerical taxonomy study in which each of the strains were examined for 56 unit characters. Similarity between strains was computed using the simple matching (SSM) and Jaccard (SJ) coefficients. The strains were clustered by unweighted average linkage and single linkage algorithms. Results of all analyses yielded similar clusterings of strains. Of the 161 strains included in the study, 148 were recovered in seven major clusters. A large cluster of Aeromonas hydrophila yielded two sub-clusters. From the results of the taxonomic analysis it is concluded that several biovars of Aeromonas hydrophila can be isolated from the aquatic environment, but geographical or site specific distribution of the biovars could not be detected.