Fingerprinting of Flavobacterium psychrophilum isolates by ribotyping and plasmid profiling.

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is the agent of cold-water disease and rainbow trout fry syndrome in salmonid fish worldwide. Ribosomal RNA gene restriction patterns (ribotypes) and plasmid profiles were determined on a collection of 85 strains isolated from different countries and fish species. Several ribotypes were obtained by using the restriction endonucleases Hinc II and Pvu II. Computer analysis of the ribotypes revealed that some of them were clearly associated with the fish species from which the strains were isolated, whereas no correlation with the geographical origin was found. Most of the strains harboured at least one plasmid and several different plasmid profiles were observed, even among strains sharing the same ribotype. These methods, used alone or in combination with other typing techniques, can be considered powerful tools for the epidemiological tracing of F. psychrophilum infections.