Rapid genotyping of theChlamydia trachomatismajor outer membrane protein by the polymerase chain reaction

Twenty one Chlamydia trachomatis reference strains and 40 clinical isolates belonging to the lymphogranuloma venerum (LGV) and trachoma biovars were genotyped by differential restriction mapping of the major-outer-membrane-protein gene (MOMP) obtained by the polymerase-chain reaction (PCR).A/uI digestion of the PCR product distinguishes eight MOMP-genotypes corresponding to 8 serovars.Six additional enzymes (NlalII, CfoI, EcoRI, HinfI, DdeI and FokI) further permit the discrimination of 10 MOMPgenotypes corresponding to the 10 remaining serovars of the species.Alul alone allows direct typing of 78% of the clinical isolates.AluI digestion patterns of mouse C. trachomatis biovar, a C. pneumoniae and two C. psittaci strains, studied for comparison, were clearly distinguishable from one another and from the C. trachomatis LGV and trachoma strains.These results indicate that