Technical Abstract: Salmonella isolates were collected from two commercial turkey processing plants (A and B) located in different US geographical locations. Isolates recovered at different stages of processing were subjected to two genotype techniques (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [PAGE] and denatured gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) to determine their usefulness in Salmonella serotyping. Primers used for PCR amplification were to a highly conserved spacer region located between the 16S and 23S rDNA genes. Sampling sites at Plant A were 1) post-scald, 2) pre-inside-outside bird wash (IOBW), 3) post-IOBW, and 4) post-chill with n = 30, 44, 36, and 12 Salmonella isolates recovered, respectively. Plant B sampling locations were 1) pre-scald, 2) post-scald, 3) pre-IOBW, 4) post-IOBW, and 5) post-chill with n = 16, 54, 24, 35, and 24 Salmonella isolates recovered, respectively. In plant A, four different Salmonella serotypes were identified: Derby, Hadar, Montevideo, and Senftenberg. In plant B, ten serotypes were identified: Agona, Anatum, Brandenburg, Derby, Hadar, Meleagridis, Montevideo, Reading, Senftenberg, and Typhimurium. S. Derby was predominant in Plant A (83%), while S. Typhimurium was the most common serotype recovered in Plant B (39%). Genotype analyses of the Salmonella serotypes were expressed in dendrograms with comparisons interpreted as percentage similarity coefficients. Both PAGE and DGGE were able to distinguish serotype band patterns. However, DGGE was more discriminating than PAGE. Isolates of the same serotypes were grouped together on the dendrogram of band patterns generated by DGGE. In contrast, PAGE failed to group all like serotypes together on the corresponding dendrogram. The results of the study suggest that genotyping techniques can be very useful in discriminating Salmonella serotypes collected from the processing plant environment of commercial poultry production. These molecular techniques may offer more cost effective means to identify Salmonella serotypes from large numbers of isolates and with more immediate results than currently achieved with conventional typing techniques.