Differentiation of Pseudomonas avellanae Strains from Greece and Italy by rep-PCR Genomic Fingerprinting

In order to point out possible genetic differences, 37 Pseudomonas avellanae strains isolated from northern Greece, northern Italy and two diiferent areas of central Italy, were assessed by means of Repetitive PCR (rep- PCR) by using Enterobacteriaceae Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) primers. After PCR amplifications, the DNA fingerprints revealed three major groups. The strains from northern Greece and those from the two areas of central Italy were similar showing, in common, three major DNA products ranging from approximately 250 to 1100 base pairs. However, strains from northern Greece can be diflFerentiated from strains of central Italy by the presence of two peculiar PCR products of 800 and 350 base pairs. The strains from northern Italy showed very different PCR profiles. When a dendrogram based on cluster analyses was built up, such strains were very different from the strains from the other areas. Isolations carried out at different times did not affect PCR products