Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay for genomic fingerprinting of Bacillus cereus isolates

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay was used for epidemiological subtyping of B. cereus and B. lentus. Within 25 isolates of B. cereus up to 22 strain types could be determined when five primers were used. RAPD patterns, which were found in three B. lentus strains, clearly differed form those of B. cereus. The RAPD technique proved to be an effective tool for the characterization of B. cereus strains.