Typing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from Greek water samples by three typing methods: serotyping, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE).

The study of various types of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from water environments is of paramount importance from a public health point of view, due to their ubiquity and pathogenicity. Molecular (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis) and phenotypical (serotyping) typing methods were applied to environmental P. aeruginosa strains. The typeability and discriminatory power of the methods were studied and compared. The two molecular methods managed to type a number of P. aeruginosa strains which were non-serotypeable due to their rough phenotypes. According to our results, the combination of phenotypic and genotypic methods increased the reliability of the results, yielding several different clones that seem to circulate in Greek water environments.