title: An overview of various typing methods for clinical epidemiology of the emerging pathogen Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.
abstract: Typing of bacterial isolates has been used for decades to study local outbreaks as well as in national and international surveillances for monitoring newly emerging resistant clones. Despite being recognized as a nosocomial pathogen, the precise modes of transmission of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in health care settings are unknown. Due to the high genetic diversity observed among S. maltophilia clinical isolates, the typing results might be better interpreted if also environmental strains were included. This could help to identify preventative measures to be designed and implemented for decreasing the possibility of outbreaks and nosocomial infections. In this review, we attempt to provide an overview on the most common typing methods used for clinical epidemiology of S. maltophilia strains, such as PCR-based fingerprinting analyses, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis, and multilocus sequence type. Application of the proteomic-based mass spectrometry by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight is also described. Improvements of typing methods already in use have to be achieved to facilitate S. maltophilia infection control at any level. In the near future, when novel Web-based platforms for rapid data processing and analysis will be available, whole genome sequencing technologies will likely become a highly powerful tool for outbreak investigations and surveillance studies in routine clinical practices.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research Centre (CIR), University Campus Biomedico, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, 00128 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: g.gherardi@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gherardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious, Parasitic, and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Margherita 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Creti
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Via Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Via Luigi Polacchi 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pompilio
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Via Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Via Luigi Polacchi 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Bonaventura
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D010641:Phenotype; D020615:Stenotrophomonas maltophilia / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Clones; Review; S. maltophilia; Typing methods