Variable-number tandem-repeat markers for typing Mycobacterium intracellulare strains isolated in humans.
BACKGROUND
Mycobacterium intracellulare, a species of the Mycobacterium avium complex, may be the cause of severe lung, lymphatic node, skin and bone/joint infections, as well as bacteriemia. The goal of this work was to identify Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit-Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR) markers and to study their variability in a collection of isolates of M. intracellulare collected in humans. We studied 61 isolates collected in humans between 2001 and 2008, as well as the reference strain, M. intracellulare ATCC 13950.


RESULTS
We identified 45 MIRU-VNTR candidates, of which 17 corresponded to the MIRU-VNTR identified in the genome of M. intracellulare ATCC 13950. Among the 45 potential MIRU-VNTR, seven were selected for use in a MIRU-VNTR assay applied to our collection of isolates. Forty-four patterns were found by MIRU-VNTR typing and the discriminatory power of the assay was high with a Hunter-Gaston diversity index of 0.98. We do not have evidence of a particular distribution of MIRU-VNTR polymorphism according to clinical situation.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that MIRU-VNTR typing could be used for molecular epidemiological studies applied to M. intracellulare.
Dauchy
Frédéric-Antoine
FA
Service de Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital Pellegrin, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, 33076 Bordeaux, France. frederic.dauchy@chu-bordeaux.fr
Dégrange
Sébastien
S
Charron
Alain
A
Dupon
Michel
M
Xin
Yi
Y
Bébéar
Cécile
C
Maugein
Jeanne
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020071:Interspersed Repetitive Sequences; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D015270:Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial