Medycyna Wet. 67 (3), 162-167, 2011
full text
| Dera-Tomaszewska B. |
| Salmonella common typing methods |
| Serotyping is a traditional method of Salmonella typing that makes it possible to classify these bacteria by the White-Kauffmann-Le Minor scheme (formerly known as Kauffmann-White scheme) on the basis of variation in the Salmonella somatic (O) and flagellar (H) antigens. It is still the primary method by which Salmonella are identified immediately after the initial isolation of these microorganisms. It is a convenient way to categorize isolates, but surface antigens alone cannot provide information about overall genetic relatedness of strains. It is also, in most cases, not sufficient to simply carry out a successful serotyping in order to gain insights into the epidemiology and source of infection. Phage typing, based on the susceptibility to a panel of standard bacteriophages, is a historically important epidemiological tool for the categorization of Salmonella, but like serotyping, it does not reflect the overall bacterial genotype. Therefore, numerous typing methods have been developed to further analyse the origin of Salmonella isolates. They may broadly be considered as phenotypic, genotypic and DNA sequence-based. Different techniques are useful in different circumstances, depending on the reason for the investigations. In laboratory practice a combination of these methods is often used. They are used in outbreak investigations or for tracking epidemiology and resistance. Although serotyping and phage typing are very important stages of the routine Salmonella investigation procedure, they are often combined with other techniques. Those that are most commonly used for Salmonella typing are discussed in detail in this paper. Brief description as well as advantages and disadvantages of these common typing methods are given. |
| Keywords: Salmonella, typing methods, phenotypic typing, genotypic typing, DNA sequence-based typing |