Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030 (AP).
* Part of MVSc thesis submitted to A.N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad.
An investigation was carried out to study the DNA polymorphism pattern of 47 E. coli isolates of chicken origin with Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) primers. The ERIC-PCR fingerprints were correlated with serogrouping and antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolates. The DNA polymorphism patterns showed a great variability across genotype. Isolates of same serogroups were differentiated into distinct genotypes and some of the isolates of different serogroups exhibited identical genotype. ERIC-PCR technique was useful in identitying different genotypes among rough strains. A dendrogram was constructed by using Jaccard similarity co-efficient via unweighted pair group method (UPGAMA). The isolates were grouped under three clusters and except for few isolates, distinct serogroups were found in the same cluster. The distribution pattern of E. coli isolates in clusters did not show any specific correlation with respect to their source and antibiotic resistance pattern. ERIC-PCR was found to be fast reliable, reproducible and less complex technique in deciphering genomic diversity among E coli isolates.
Chicken, E. coli, ERIC PCR, genotypes, Jaccard co-efficient, UPGAMA
