Microbiology & Immunology Publications
Title
Persistence of Lactobacillus fermentum RC-14 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 but not L. rhamnosus GG in the human vagina as demonstrated by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1998
Journal
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume
64
Issue
7
First Page
2418
Last Page
2423
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1128/aem.64.7.2418-2423.1998
Abstract
A total of 64 type, reference, clinical, health food, and stock isolates of microaerophilic Lactobacillus species were examined by restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Of particular interest were members of six of the eight species most commonly recovered from the vaginas of healthy premenopausal women, namely, Lactobacil. lus jensenii, L. casei, L. rhamnosus, L. acidophilus, L. plantatum, and L. fermentum. Six main groupings were identified on the basis of ribotyping. This technique was able to classify fresh isolates to the species level. In the case of the ribotype A grouping for L. rhamnosus, differences between strains were evident by chromosome typing (chromotyping). Many isolates did not possess plasmids. Six L. rhamnosus strains isolated from four different health food products appeared to be identical to L. rhamnosus ATCC 21052. The molecular typing system is useful for identifying and differentiating Lactobacillus isolates. Studies of strains of potential importance to the urogenital flora should include molecular characterization as a means of comparing genetic traits with those of strains whose characteristics associated with colonization and antagonism against pathogens have been defined.