OBJECTIVETo establish molecular typing of Listeria monocytogenes isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for studying the epidemiologic characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from foodstuff in Guangdong province and to build up PFGE typing database of Listeria monocytogenes isolates for identifying the infectious resource of the outbreaks and other epidemiologic investigation.

METHODS"Standardized Protocol for Molecular Subtyping of Listeria monocytogenes by PFGE" was followed. BioNumerics software was applied on image analysis, database establishment, comparative and corresponding analysis.

RESULTS107 Listeria monocytogenes isolates were typed by PFGE, 41 PFGE types were observed among the isolates. The PFGE types were dispersive among these isolates. Listeria monocytogenes isolates were most frequently isolated in raw chicken while the most PFGE types were found in this type of food. The positive rate was relatively high in cold and iced foods. Only 1-2 DNA fragment difference occurred in 26 Listeria monocytogenes isolates by PFGE, so high degree of relatedness remained among these isolates. There were unique PFGE patterns in the regions of Shaoguan and Huizhou. From time to time, a number of isolates remained close relationship.

CONCLUSIONPFGE typing of the 107 Guangdong Listeria monocytogenes isolates demonstrated relative genetic diversity but a number of the isolates showed close relatedness.