Use of ribotyping for characterization of Salmonella serotypes.

Forty-five isolates of Salmonella serotype reading, 20 isolates of Salmonella serotype senftenberg, and 56 isolates of Salmonella serotype typhimurium from domestic and wild animals were characterized genotypically to differentiate within serotypes for epidemiologic studies. The genotypic method of characterization used was ribotyping, a method for highlighting highly conserved rRNA genes and associated sequences. Isolates were obtained from diverse geographic sources (farms located in Fresno, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Yolo counties) as well as different hosts (avian, equine, bovine, murine, and environmental) during a period of 8 months. Within a given serotype, ribotying was able to establish subclassifications (ribotypes) that grouped isolates by a common source regardless of host or geographic origin. There were four distinct ribosomal banding patterns observed for Salmonella serotype reading, six were observed for Salmonella serotype senftenberg, and two were observed for Salmonella serotype typhimurium.