The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 46, Issue 2 173-181, Copyright © 1997 by Society for General Microbiology

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Differentiation of Leptospira species and serovars by PCR-restriction endonuclease analysis, arbitrarily primed PCR and low-stringency PCR

P. D. Brown and P. N. Levett
School of Clinical Medicine and Research, University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies.

Reference strains from 30 serovars representing seven species of Leptospira and 48 recent isolates from human patients, dogs and rats, were characterised by polymerase chain reaction-restriction endonuclease analysis (PCR-REA), arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) and low stringency PCR (LS-PCR). PCR-REA analysis yielded seven groups among 29 serovars of pathogenic Leptospira; the non-pathogenic L. biflexa serovar patoc was not amplified with the primer pairs studied. AP-PCR and LS-PCR fingerprinting resulted in 25 and 21 distinct profiles, respectively, among the 30 reference strains. The results of the three PCR-based techniques were highly concordant and were in general agreement with those from previous DNA studies, confirming the high level of polymorphism among Leptospira species and serovars, and supported the concept of the serovar as the basic taxonomic unit of leptospiral classification. Results of the PCR-based typing methods for 11 randomised leptospiral strains, 36 clinical isolates from human patients and dogs and 12 survey isolates from trapped rats agreed with those from serological identification. With one exception, isolates of the same serovar gave identical profiles irrespective of the source. AP-PCR and LS-PCR are simple to perform and interpret, and appear to be useful for characterising isolates of Leptospira spp. for diagnostic and epidemiological purposes.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A P Sugunan, K Natarajaseenivasan, P Vijayachari, and S C Sehgal Percutaneous exposure resulting in laboratory-acquired leptospirosis - a case report J. Med. Microbiol., December 1, 2004; 53(12): 1259 - 1262. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Roy, D. Biswas, P. Vijayachari, A. P. Sugunan, and S. C. Sehgal Antigenic and genetic relatedness of Leptospira strains isolated from the Andaman Islands in 1929 and 2001 J. Med. Microbiol., October 1, 2003; 52(10): 909 - 911. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. A. Oliveira, O. L. Caballero, A. R. Vago, R. A. Harskeerl, A. J. Romanha, S. D. J. Pena, A. J. G. Simpson, and M. C. Koury Low-stringency single specific primer PCR for identification of Leptospira J. Med. Microbiol., February 1, 2003; 52(2): 127 - 135. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. N. Levett Leptospirosis Clin. Microbiol. Rev., April 1, 2001; 14(2): 296 - 326. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Barocchi, A. I. Ko, S. R. Ferrer, M. T. Faria, M. G. Reis, and L. W. Riley Identification of New Repetitive Element in Leptospira interrogans Serovar Copenhageni and Its Application to PCR-Based Differentiation of Leptospira Serogroups J. Clin. Microbiol., January 1, 2001; 39(1): 191 - 195. [Abstract] [Full Text]