Subtyping of a frequent phagovar of Listeria monocytogenes in Sweden by use of restriction endonuclease analysis.

In Sweden, many Listeria monocytogenes strains belonging to serovar 4b and isolated during the last five years from different sources share the same phagovar--2389:2425:3274:2671:47:108:340. The object of the present study was to investigate if 31 L. monocytogenes serovar 4b strains belonging to this particular phagovar could be differentiated by use of a simple restriction endonuclease analysis (REA). Among the enzymes tested, Xho I was found to be the most useful, since this enzyme could divide the 31 strains into five groups. The profiles of all human clinical isolates were indistinguishable from each other, which indicates that these strains may represent a single clone. The food isolates and the strains of human origin did not share the same profile. This further characterization may be of epidemiological importance as this phagovar of L. monocytogenes has been associated with at least two outbreaks of human listeriosis in Europe.