title: MLVA and MLST typing of Brucella from Qinghai, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) of China is an extensive pastoral and semi-pastoral area, and because of poverty and bad hygiene conditions, Brucella is highly prevalent in this region. In order to adequately prevent this disease in the QTP region it is important to determine the identity of Brucella species that caused the infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 65 Brucella isolates were obtained from human, livestock and wild animals in Qinghai, a Chinese province in east of the QTP. Two molecular typing methods, MLVA (multi-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis) and MLST (multi locus sequence typing) were used to identify the species and genotypes of these isolates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both MLVA and MLST typing methods classified the 65 isolates into three species, B. melitensis, B. abortus and B. suis, which included 60, 4 and 1 isolates respectively. The MLVA method uniquely detected 34 (Bm01 ~ Bm34), 3 (Ba01 ~ Ba03), and 1 (Bs01) MLVA-16 genotypes for B. melitensis, B. abortus and B. suis, respectively. However, none of these genotypes exactly matched any of the genotypes in the Brucella2012 MLVA database. The MLST method identified five known ST types: ST7 and ST8 (B. melitensis), ST2 and ST5 (B. abortus), and ST14 (B. suis). We also detected a strain with a mutant type (3-2-3-2-?-5-3-8-2) of ST8 (3-2-3-2-1-5-3-8-2). Extensive genotype-sharing events could be observed among isolates from different host species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were at least three Brucella (B. melitensis, B. abortus and B. suis) species in Qinghai, of which B. melitensis was the predominant species in the area examined. The Brucella population in Qinghai was very different from other regions of the world, possibly owing to the unique geographical characteristics such as extremely high altitude in QTP. There were extensive genotype-sharing events between isolates obtained from humans and other animals. Yaks, sheep and blue sheep were important zoonotic reservoirs of brucellosis causing species found in humans.
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining, 811602, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining, 811602, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining, 811602, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Fei
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining, 811602, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Li-Qing
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining, 811602, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Gui-Ying
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Ri
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining, 811602, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China. cuibuyun@icdc.cn.
authors.forename: Bu-Yun
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, Qinghai, China. lingonghua@nwipb.cas.cn.
authors.forename: Gong-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002002:Brucella / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000662:veterinary*; D002417:Cattle / Q000382:microbiology; D002681:China; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing / Q000379:methods*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012418:Ruminants / Q000382:microbiology; D012756:Sheep / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Brucella; Genotype; Molecular identification; Zoonotic host