Species, biotype, and bacteriophage type determinations compared with cell envelope protein profiles for typing Acinetobacter strains.

Species, biotypes, and phage types were determined for 120 Acinetobacter strains from clinical or environmental sources or from culture collections. These characteristics were compared with cell envelope protein profiles obtained by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in previous studies. A considerable heterogeneity of species and types was observed by use of the various methods, in particular among strains from different sources. Acinetobacter baumannii was the most commonly found species in isolates from clinical sources, followed by Acinetobacter species 3. Nine biotypes were observed among A. baumannii strains. Further differentiation within most species and biotypes was achieved by protein profile typing and, to some extent, phage typing. Of 120 strains, 49 (41%) were not typeable by phages. Consistent results for the various classification methods were obtained for strains from common sources. Biotyping seemed an appropriate method for the screening of strains, whereas protein profile and phage typing could serve as additional methods to establish the identity or nonidentity of strains. Results of this study suggest that the combination of the typing methods is useful in epidemiological studies.