title: Optimal Combination of VNTR Typing for Discrimination of Isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing is a promising method to discriminate the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in molecular epidemiology. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal VNTR combinations for discriminating isolated M. tuberculosis strains in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 317 clinical isolates collected throughout Korea were genotyped by using the IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and then analysed for the number of VNTR copies from 32 VNTR loci.
  
  
  RESULTS
  THE RESULTS OF DISCRIMINATORY POWER ACCORDING TO DIVERSE COMBINATIONS WERE AS FOLLOWS: 25 clusters in 83 strains were yielded from the internationally standardized 15 VNTR loci (Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index [HGDI], 0.9958), 25 clusters in 65 strains by using IS6110 RFLP (HGDI, 0.9977), 14 clusters in 32 strains in 12 hyper-variable VNTR loci (HGDI, 0.9995), 6 clusters in 13 strains in 32 VNTR loci (HDGI, 0.9998), and 7 clusters in 14 strains of both the 12 hyper-variable VNTR and IS6110 RFLP (HDGI, 0.9999).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combination of 12 hyper-variable VNTR typing can be an effective tool for genotyping Korean M. tuberculosis isolates where the Beijing strains are predominant.
authors.affiliation: Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jihye
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Heeyoon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sarang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Heekyung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Korean Institute of Tuberculosis, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Kil
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Minisatellite Repeats; Molecular Epidemiology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis