New Identification of Three or More Campylobacter Species on the Basis of a Degenerate PCR–RFLP Method Targeting gyrB Gene

This method was aimed targeting more Campylobacter species than conventional PCR-based identifications. They generally use species-specific primers focusing on clinically common species like C. jejuni , resulting in failure to recognize other species. We made the PCR-based identification more flexible using degenerate primers and Dde I- and Mbo I-separately used RFLP assay, which were designed on the basis of gyr B nucleotide sequence data of 14 Campylobacter species including C. jejuni , C. coli, and C. fetus . Ninety-four clinical isolates from patients with Campylobacter gastroenteritis and 13 biochemically identified C. fetus were used for its evaluation. In consequence, this method succeeded in identifying C. jejuni , C. coli, and C. fetus with tentative sensitivity (93.4–98.0%) and specificity (89.0–99.0%). According to our data-based analysis, the primers can possibly target other related species including Helicobacter and Arcobacter . This method may be a universal identification for Campylobacter and related organisms and would provide an alternative identification in clinical microbiology.