Abstract
Several methods for epidemiological typing ofCorynebacterium diphtheriae were compared with the well accepted phage typing analysis. For this purpose, isolates from outbreaks of diphtheria in specific areas of the FRG and Sweden were analyzed by phage typing, their bacterial polypeptide profiles were examined and their phage-DNA restriction enzyme patterns were compared. All techniques were able to identify whether certain outbreaks were epidemiologically linked or not. Phage typing and phage-DNA restriction enzyme fragment analysis were limited in their application to lysogenic strains, whereas bacterial polypeptide analysis was universally applicable. Analysis of bacterial polypeptides was superior to all methods, especially in terms of speed and simplicity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Naumann, P., Krech, T., Maximescu, P., Adamek, H., Retzgen, B., Hartmann, G., Bleckmann, M. Phagenlysotypie and Epidemiologie der Diphtherie-Erkrankungen 1975–1984. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 1986, 111: 228–292.
Christenson, B. Is diphtheria coming back? Annals of Clinical Research 1986, 18: 69–70.
Saragea, A., Maximescu, P., Meitert, E. Corynebacterium diphtheriae: microbiological methods used in clinical and epidemiological investigations. Methods in Microbiology 1979, 13: 61–76.
Carlone, G. M., Sottnek, F. O., Plikaytis, B. D. Comparison of outer membrane protein and biochemical profiles ofHaemophilus aegypticus andHaemophilus influenzae biotype III. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1985, 22: 708–713.
Mulligan, M. E., Halebian, S., Kwok, R. Y. Y., Cheng, W. C., Finegold, S. M., Anselmo, C. R., Gerding, D. N., Peterson, L. R. Bacterial agglutination and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for typingClostridium difficile. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1986, 153: 267–271.
Laemmli, U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 1970, 227: 680–685.
Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F., Sambrook, J.: Molecular cloning. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, 1982, p. 98–106, 458–463.
Buck, G. A., Cross, R. E., Wong, T. P., Loera, J., Groman, N. DNA relationships among some tox gene bearing corynebacteriophages. Infection and Immunity 1985, 49: 679–684.
Rappuoli, R., Perugini, M., Ratti, G. DNA element ofCorynebacterium diphtheriae with properties of an insertion sequence and usefulness for epidemiological studies. Journal of Bacteriology 1987, 169: 308–312.
Pappenheimer, A. M., Murphy, J. R. Studies on the molecular epidemiology of diphtheria. Lancet 1983, ii: 923–926.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krech, T., de Chastonay, J. & Falsen, E. Epidemiology of diphtheria: Polypeptide and restriction enzyme analysis in comparison with conventional phage typing. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 7, 232–237 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01963094
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01963094