Multilocus enzyme analysis of the genus Aeromonas and its use for species identification.

A total of 153 Aeromonas strains were analyzed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. All 11 genetic loci were polymorphic with three to 14 alleles per locus (average 6.55). The genetic diversity of each locus varied between 0.095 for indophenol oxidase and 0.881 for the fast variety of malic enzyme. Cluster analysis of the 122 enzyme types revealed a good correlation with taxonomic groupings as determined by DNA-DNA hybridization. In conjunction with biochemical analysis, as few as two enzymes may be sufficient for the identification of all species in the genus Aeromonas.