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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Produce Safety and Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #161237
Title: DIFFERENTIATION OF CAMPYLOBACTER COLI, CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI, CAMPYLOBACTER LARI AND CAMPYLOBACTER UPSALIENSIS USING A MULTIPLEX PCR DEVELOPED FROM THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE OF THE LIPID A GENE LPXA.

Author
item KLENA, JOHN - WA. ST. UNIV. PULLMAN
item Parker, Craig
item KNIBB, KRISTA - UNIV.OF CANTERBURY, NZ
item IBBITT, CLAIRE - UNIV.OF CANTERBURY, NZ
item DEVANE, PHILLIPA - CHRISTCHURCH SCI.CTR. NZ
item Horn, Sharon
item Miller, William - Bill
item KONKEL, MICHAEL - WA. ST. UNIV. PULLMAN

Submitted to: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/7/2004
Publication Date: 12/10/2004
Citation: Klena, J.D., Parker, C., Knibb, K., Ibbitt, C., Devane, P.M., Horn, S.T., Miller, W.G., Konkel, M. 2004. Differentiation of campylobacter coli, campylobacter jejuni, campylobacter lari and campylobacter upsaliensis using a multiplex pcr developed from the nucleotide sequence of the lipid a gene lpxa. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 42(12):5549-5557.

Interpretive Summary: We describe a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay (mPCR) for the identification and discrimination between isolates of Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter lari and Campylobacter upsaliensis. The Campylobacter jejuni isolate F38011 lpxA gene was identified by sequence analysis of an expression plasmid that restored wild-type lipopolysaccharide levels in Escherichia coli strain SM105 (lpxA). Using oligonucleotide primers developed to the C. jejuni lpxA gene, nearly full-length lpxA amplicons were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction from an additional 13 isolates of C. jejuni, 20 isolates of C. coli, 16 isolates of C. lari and five isolates C. upsaliensis. The nucleotide sequence for each amplicon was determined and alignment of the sequences, beginning at position -3 base pairs (relative to the C. jejuni lpxA gene) through to +745 base pairs, revealed a high level of species discrimination. Oligonucleotide primers were developed to exploit species differences and a mPCR assay was developed to positively identify isolates of C. coli, C. jejuni, C. lari and C. upsaliensis. We characterized an additional set of thermotolerant isolates by nucleotide sequence analysis to further demonstrate the uniqueness of each species-specific region. The mPCR assay was validated using 112 genetically-defined isolates of C. coli, C. jejuni, C. lari and C. upsaliensis, 35 strains representing twelve additional Campylobacter species, and 25 strains representing 20 non-Campylobacter species. Application of the mPCR method to whole cell lysates obtained from 108 clinical and environmental thermotolerant Campylobacter isolates resulted in 100% correlation with other typing methods.

Technical Abstract: We describe a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay (mPCR) for the identification and discrimination between isolates of Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter lari and Campylobacter upsaliensis. The Campylobacter jejuni isolate F38011 lpxA gene was identified by sequence analysis of an expression plasmid that restored wild-type lipopolysaccharide levels in Escherichia coli strain SM105 (lpxA). Using oligonucleotide primers developed to the C. jejuni lpxA gene, nearly full-length lpxA amplicons were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction from an additional 13 isolates of C. jejuni, 20 isolates of C. coli, 16 isolates of C. lari and five isolates C. upsaliensis. The nucleotide sequence for each amplicon was determined and alignment of the sequences, beginning at position -3 base pairs (relative to the C. jejuni lpxA gene) through to +745 base pairs, revealed a high level of species discrimination. Oligonucleotide primers were developed to exploit species differences and a mPCR assay was developed to positively identify isolates of C. coli, C. jejuni, C. lari and C. upsaliensis. We characterized an additional set of thermotolerant isolates by nucleotide sequence analysis to further demonstrate the uniqueness of each species-specific region. The mPCR assay was validated using 112 genetically-defined isolates of C. coli, C. jejuni, C. lari and C. upsaliensis, 35 strains representing twelve additional Campylobacter species, and 25 strains representing 20 non-Campylobacter species. Application of the mPCR method to whole cell lysates obtained from 108 clinical and environmental thermotolerant Campylobacter isolates resulted in 100% correlation with other typing methods.