Strain identification of probiotic Lactobacillus casei-related isolates with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis methods

Typing of reference strains and isolates identified as Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei or Lactobacillus rhamnosus was carried out using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analyses. Strains of L. paracasei were mainly grouped in the same cluster as those of L. casei. The RAPD fingerprints of strains ATCC 393 and ATCC 15820 differ from those of the L. rhamnosus and L. paracasei/casei strains further supporting classification of these strains as a separate group. The RAPD profiling could be used for classification and discrimination of isolates belonging to the L. casei group.