Biochemical fingerprinting for typing of Aeromonas strains from food and water

The PhenePlate (PhP) system for biochemical fingerprinting is based on analysis of the kinetics of biochemical tests in microplates. This was evaluated for typing Aeromonas spp. isolates from drinking water and food and 78 Aeromonas strains isolated on different occasions over 6 months from three public drinking water systems. The system was highly discriminating and the diversity index, as calculated from 65 unrelated isolates, was 0.993, and 53 different biochemical phenotypes (BPTs) were found. Food isolates were more homogeneous than random Aeromonas strains and identical isolates were sometimes found in food of different origin. Each public drinking water system contained several BPTs but some of these were dominant at several sampling sites and on several sampling occasions in a system. The PhP system is suitable for typing Aeromonas strains from food and water. It is simple to handle and can be used with large numbers of isolates.