title: Molecular Strain Typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a Review of Frequently Used Methods.
abstract: Tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains one of the most serious global health problems. Molecular typing of M. tuberculosis has been used for various epidemiologic purposes as well as for clinical management. Currently, many techniques are available to type M. tuberculosis. Choosing the most appropriate technique in accordance with the existing laboratory conditions and the specific features of the geographic region is important. Insertion sequence IS6110-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis is considered the gold standard for the molecular epidemiologic investigations of tuberculosis. However, other polymerase chain reaction-based methods such as spacer oligonucleotide typing (spoligotyping), which detects 43 spacer sequence-interspersing direct repeats (DRs) in the genomic DR region; mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number tandem repeats, (MIRU-VNTR), which determines the number and size of tandem repetitive DNA sequences; repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR), which provides high-throughput genotypic fingerprinting of multiple Mycobacterium species; and the recently developed genome-based whole genome sequencing methods demonstrate similar discriminatory power and greater convenience. This review focuses on techniques frequently used for the molecular typing of M. tuberculosis and discusses their general aspects and applications.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Molecular Research Centre, Department of Medical Research, Yangon, Myanmar.
authors.forename: Phyu Win
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-3260
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Ei
authors.affiliation: Advanced Molecular Research Centre, Department of Medical Research, Yangon, Myanmar.
authors.forename: Wah Wah
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5780-4961
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Aung
authors.affiliation: International Tuberculosis Research Center, Changwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Seok
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-9856
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Convergence Bio-Health, Dong-A University, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Go Eun
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6852-907X
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea. cchl@pusan.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Chulhun L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9117-4919
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D058889:Molecular Typing / Q000379:methods*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements
keywords: Molecular Strain Typing; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Tuberculosis