TABLE 2.

Reproducibility of the HMA technique

Source of HMA results	Reference sequence I				Reference sequence II
	No. of:			% Repro- ducibility	No. of:			% Repro- ducibility
	Samples	Sequences	HMA patterns		Samples	Sequences	HMA patterns
Identical sequences from:
Original PCR ampliconsa from different samples	12	5	4	100	12	5	5	100
Cloned materialb from different samples	12	5	4	100	12	5	5	100
Original PCR ampliconsa and cloned materialb from the same sample	42	14	12	100	42	14	12	95c
Multiple tests (five) on the same cloned sample	23	16	14	100	23	16	14	100

^aPCR amplicons obtained by RT-PCR from fecal extracts.

^bPCR amplicons amplified by PCR from cloned DNA.

^cFor one sample, the initial amplicon gave the pattern of the clone plus an extra band.