Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of the genomic restriction fragments of coagulase-negative staphylococci.

The genomes of 47 coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains assigned to different species were analysed by pulsed-field electrophoresis. The strains were clustered on the basis of their similarity in the SmaI restriction patterns into various groups, each group consisting of the type strain and the strains whose SmaI restriction patterns were similar to that of the type of strain. The SmaI restriction groups seem to correspond to the following species: Staphylococcus warneri, S. hominis, S. xylosus, S. lugdunensis, S. kloosii, S. haemolyticus, S. lentus, S. cohnii, S. equorum, S. chromogenes, S. saprophyticus, S. simulans, S. carnosus, S. capitis and S. auricularis. The species S. sciuri, S. caseolyticus, S. gallinarum, S. epidermidis and S. schleiferi were represented only by their type strains and showed no similarity in their SmaI restriction patterns neither to each other nor to all the other species investigated here. Thus, the classification of coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains into the above species seems to be confirmed also by genome restriction analysis carried out by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.