RAPD analysis of environmental, food and clinical isolates of Campylobacter spp.

The typing of Campylobacter is relatively poorly developed compared to that of the Enterobacteriaceae, and new molecular methods may provide useful approaches. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify randomly primed genomic DNA from Campylobacter isolates with an optimised randomly amplified polymorphic DNA protocol. Groups of isolates were analysed from chicken house environmental sources, chicken joints from retail sources, patients suffering from clinical disease and laboratory culture collections. Amplicons were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, stained with ethidium bromide, and banding patterns captured in a digital form for computer analysis with GelCompar software. The method gave 100% typability and reproducibility for the isolates investigated and proved a useful technique for the epidemiological analysis of Campylobacter. Computer-based analysis of the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA generated profiles allowed relationships between isolates to be studied at the molecular level resulting in some indication of molecular correlates of the origins of isolates.