Molecular diversity and growth features of Flavobacterium columnare strains isolated in Finland

ABSTRACT: Columnaris disease caused by Flavobacterium columnare is a problem in fish farmingworldwide. During the last 15 yr, outbreaks have started to emerge in Finland. Flavobacteriumcolumnare Type Strain NCIMB 2248 T and 30 Finnish F. columnare isolates were studied usinganalysis of 16S rDNA by restriction-fragment length polymorphism (16S RFLP), length heterogeneityanalysis of polymerase chain reaction (LH-PCR) products, automated ribosomal intergenic spaceranalysis (ARISA), and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. All isolates fell into RFLP Genomovar I and hadthe same length in the LH-PCR analysis. Based on ARISA, 8 genetically different strains wereselected for further analyses. The growth of…