ERIC PCR and RAPD based fingerprinting of Salmonella Typhi strains isolated over a period of two decades.

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi strains (n=113) were isolated from typhoid patients over a period of 2 decades, i.e. 1987-2006. RAPD and ERIC PCR methods were used for random whole genome typing of these strains. ERIC PCR was found to be very efficient with the discriminatory index (DI) of 0.9821 with 100% reproducibility. RAPD was satisfactory in discriminating the strains (DI=0.8978) but with poor reproducibility (40%). However, composite genotypic analysis was still better with DI of 0.9981 but with inherent poor reproducibility due to RAPD. Two major clones were observed to be circulating in the community with few unrelated strains too. The dendrogram constructed based on ERIC PCR banding pattern by involving 89 Typhi strains revealed 71 patterns, indicating that the genome of the bacterium is capable of rapid changes and variations. Thus, the spectrum of biological manifestations of human infection by S. Typhi may be related to its capacity for genetic diversity underlined by its highly plastic hypermutable genome.