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Clustering of Saccharomyces boulardii strains within the species S. cerevisiae using molecular typing techniques

Authors :
Helmut Viernstein
Wolfgang Kneifel
G. Mitterdorfer
Helmut K. Mayer
Source :
Journal of Applied Microbiology. 93:521-530
Publication Year :
2002
Publisher :
Oxford University Press (OUP), 2002.

Abstract

Aims: This study was undertaken to characterize and differentiate therapeutically relevant Saccharomyces yeasts. Among the isolates were so-called Saccharomyces boulardii strains, which are considered as probiotic agents, but whose taxonomic assignment is controversial. Moreover, the discriminative power of the applied molecular typing techniques should be evaluated. Methods and Results: Genotyping was performed using species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of rDNA spacer regions and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Species-specific PCR assigned all of the product isolates to the species S. cerevisiae. By combining the other techniques, all isolates could be discriminated. Moreover, it could be demonstrated that probiotic S. boulardii strains form a separate cluster located within the species. Conclusions: With the exception of species-specific PCR, all of the applied methodologies were suitable for subspecies typing and indicated a close relationship between the probiotic strains. Significance and Impact of the Study: The methods applied in this study are considered powerful tools for quality control of therapeutically relevant yeasts. It is of crucial importance, especially regarding S. boulardii yeasts, to verify the identity of the correct strain, since the beneficial properties are considered to be strain-specific.

Details

ISSN :
13652672 and 13645072
Volume :
93
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Journal of Applied Microbiology
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....e3cee993dd573663643c9359ceb195e2
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2672.2002.01710.x