Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of Escherichia coli isolated from chickens.

In this study, 48 E.coli strains isolated from colibacillosis suspicious hens at different poultry houses were examined. These samples were inoculated on to blood agar and then suspicious colonies were transferred on to EMB and MacConcey agar. Bacterial growth was observed in 110 samples, 48 (13,6%) of which were identified as Escherichia coli (E.coli). E.coli strains were typed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to detect the genetic differences between at E.coli strains in this region. Extracted DNA samples from 48 strains of E.coli were amplified by RAPD primer (COL 1). Nine different band profiles were obtained. These results indicated that there were great genetic heterogeneity between E.coli strains in this region. RAPD analysis had the highest discriminatory capacity for typing E.coli isolates. Because of its simplicity and rapidity, RAPD analysis appears to be a highly valuable tool for studying E.coli molecular epidemiology.