Study on identification of Cronobacter spp. species in 11 areas in China

To compare different methods on the identification of Cronobacter (C.) spp. species and to choose an optimum one.Biochemical test, 16S rRNA and fusA sequencing methods were carried out.When using the biochemical test, 105 strains showed six different conditions but C. turicensis and C. universalis could not be effectively identified. Under the 16S rRNA sequencing analysis, all the strains were divided into 5 groups but C. sakazakii and C. malonaticus were tangled. Finally, all the strains were identified into 58 C. sakazakii, 30 C. malonaticus, 11 C. dublinensis, 5 C. turicensis, 1 C. muytjensii, under the fusA sequencing analysis.Currently, fusA sequencing analysis seemed an effective method for identifying the species of Cronobacter. Since fusA sequencing analysis method was less intuitive, another method for rapid testing should be developed.