Clonal diversity of oral Eikenella corrodens within individual subjects by arbitrarily primed PCR

The genetic diversity of 205 Eikenella corrodens isolates recovered from dental plaque, mucosal surfaces, and saliva of 24 subjects was examined by arbitrarily primed PCR. Twenty-two subjects were colonized by multiple clones (range, two to eight; mean, 3.7). This study demonstrates the utility of arbitrarily primed PCR for clonal analysis of E. corrodens and the multiclonal colonization of E. corrodens in the oral cavity.