title: Use of variable-number tandem-repeat typing to differentiate Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family isolates from Hong Kong and comparison with IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism typing and spoligotyping.
abstract: The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family isolates may cause more than a quarter of all tuberculosis cases worldwide, are emerging in some areas, and are often associated with drug resistance. Early recognition of transmission of this genotype is therefore important. To evaluate the usefulness of variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) typing to discriminate and recognize strains of the Beijing family, M. tuberculosis isolates from Hong Kong were subjected to VNTR analysis, spoligotyping, and IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing. The allelic diversity of the 14 VNTR loci included in the analysis varied from 0 to 0.618 among Beijing strains. The discriminatory power of VNTR analysis was slightly lower than that of IS6110 RFLP. Our analysis shows that VNTR typing, which has many practical advantages over RFLP typing, can be used for epidemiological studies of Beijing strains. However, VNTR-defined clusters should be subtyped with IS6110 RFLP for maximal resolution.
authors.affiliation: Mycobacteria Reference Unit, Diagnostic Laboratory for infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.forename: Betty Kam Yan
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: Peter Chi Wai
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Skuce
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Supply
authors.forename: Kai Man
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kam
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Soolingen
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000032:analysis; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D009841:Oligonucleotides