Molecular Typing of Leuconostoc citreum Strains Isolated from Korean Fermented Foods Using a Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Marker

Abstract

For preliminary molecular typing, PCR-based fingerprinting using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is the method of choice. In this study, 14 bacterial strains were isolated from different Korean food sources, identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and characterized through RAPD-PCR. Two PCR primers (239 and KAY3) generated a total of 130 RAPD bands, 14 distinct PCR profiles, 10 polymorphic bands, one monomorphic band, and four unique bands. Dendrogram-based analysis with primer 239 showed that all 14 strains could be divided into seven clades out of which clade VII had the maximum of seven. In contrast, dendrogram analysis with the primer KAY3 divided the 14 L. citreum strains into four clades out of which clade IV consisted of a maximum of 10 strains out of 14. This research identified and characterized bacterial populations associated with different Korean foods. The proposed RAPD-PCR method, based on sequence amplification, could easily identify and discriminate the lactic acid bacteria species at the strain-specific level and could be used as a highly reliable genomic fingerprinting tool.