Table 3.

Comparison of Multiplex sodA-PCR and 16S rRNA sequencing in identification of Enterococcus species in racing pigeons

	Enterococcus spp.	16S Sequencing									Total (n)
		E. columbae	E. hirae	E. faecium	E. faecalis	E. gallinarum	E. mundtii	E. casseliflavus	E. cecorum	E. durans
Multiplex PCR (sodA)	E. columbae	50	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	50
	E. hirae	2	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30
	E. faecium	1	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	17
	E. faecalis	0	0	0	17	0	0	0	0	0	17
	E. gallinarum	0	0	0	0	13	0	0	0	0	13
	E. mundtii	1	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	7
	E. casseliflavus	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	5
	E. cecorum	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
	E. durans	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3
Total (n)		55	28	16	17	13	6	5	3	2	145

Cohen’s kappa = 0.956 (CI 95%: 0.919, 0.993) – almost perfect agreement

Green indicates agreement in species identification between sequencing and PCR; yellow indicates a lack of agreement