title: Fluorescent amplified-fragment length polymorphism genotyping of Neisseria meningitidis identifies clones associated with invasive disease.
abstract: Fluorescent amplified-fragment length polymorphism (FAFLP), a genotyping technique with phylogenetic significance, was applied to 123 isolates of Neisseria meningitidis. Nine of these were from an outbreak in a British university; 9 were from a recent outbreak in Pontypridd, Glamorgan; 15 were from sporadic cases of meningococcal disease; 26 were from the National Collection of Type Cultures; 58 were carrier isolates from Ironville, Derbyshire; 1 was a disease isolate from Ironville; and five were representatives of invasive clones of N. meningitidis. FAFLP analysis results were compared with previously published multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) results. FAFLP was able to identify hypervirulent, hyperendemic lineages (invasive clones) of N. meningitidis as well as did MLST. PFGE did not discriminate between two strains from the outbreak that were classified as similar but distinct by FAFLP. The results suggest that high resolution of N. meningitidis for outbreak and other epidemiological analyses is more cost efficient by FAFLP than by sequencing procedures.
authors: Molecular Biology Unit, SBVL, Central Public Health Laboratory, London, UK.
authors: J N
authors: JN
authors: Goulding
authors: J V
authors: JV
authors: Hookey
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Stanley
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Olver
authors: K R
authors: KR
authors: Neal
authors: D A
authors: DA
authors: Ala'Aldeen
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Arnold
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes