Application of subtyping by combined allozyme, whole-cell protein and antibiotic resistance analysis in epidemiological investigations of food-borne infections.

Allozyme pattern, whole-cell protein pattern and antibiotic resistance were used as markers for epidemiological subtyping (below the species level) of food-relevant bacteria. The results of this study confirm the applicability of these patterns as epidemiological markers also for this special purpose. Electrotyping using also a reduced allozyme set seems to be the method with the highest discriminatory power of the three methods evaluated. Several examples demonstrate that complex typing of bacteria based on a combination of these three methods is useful for the analysis of food-borne infections and establishment of their causes but also for zoonotic studies. We see, beyond this, further applications of molecular subtyping methods in food microbiology and food hygiene such as safety checking in food industry or monitoring in biotechnological processes.