Spoligotyping and exact tandem repeat (ETR) analysis of Mycobacterium bovis and M. caprae isolated strains has been routinely carried out in Italy since 2000 to obtain a database of genetic profiles and support traditional epidemiological investigations. In this study, we characterized 1,503 M. bovis and 57 M. caprae isolates obtained from 2000 to 2006 in 747 cattle herds mainly located in nort...

BACKGROUND Genotyping methods are useful tools to provide information on tuberculosis epidemic. They can allow a better response from health authorities and the implementation of measures for tuberculosis control. This study aimed to identify the main lineages and clades of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains circulating in Côte d'Ivoire. METHODS/MAIN FINDINGS Strains isolated from spu...

Recently about 500 new cases of leprosy have been reported each year in Thailand. In addition to a steady rate of new case detection, Thailand is in Southeast Asia where leprosy is endemic in neighbouring countries; therefore, strain differentiation could be useful in tracing origins and routes of infection, and general leprosy surveillance. To identify suitable markers for differentiation of M...

BACKGROUND We describe the identification of, and risk factors for, the single most prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain in the West Midlands region of the UK. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Prospective 15-locus MIRU-VNTR genotyping of all M. tuberculosis isolates in the West Midlands between 2004 and 2008 was undertaken. Two retrospective epidemiological investigations were also under...

Background: Bacterial and cellular genotyping is becoming increasingly important in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, difficulties in obtaining sufficient amount of bacterial and cellular DNA extracted from the same human biopsy specimens is often a limiting factor. In this study, total DNA (host and bacterial DNA) was isolated from minute amounts of gastric biopsy specimens and am...

Abstract Climate change brings new risks of emergence especially dangerous diseases. The paper reports the possibility assessing pathogenic potential bacteria as demonstrated by studying allelic polymorphism anthrax bacterium pathogenicity factor genes, which is a prerequisite for associated microbiological risks. capBCADE operon ( capB , capC capA capD and capE genes) encoding capsule biosynth...

BACKGROUND Typhoid fever has caused severe epidemics in many Asian and African countries. The early detection of outbreaks and their sources may promote the prevention and control of typhoid fever, for which effective and timely molecular subtyping techniques are required. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is routinely used as the molecular typing technique for foodborne and waterborne pa...

The variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTR) analysis is a method frequently employed as a molecular epidemiological tool for Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic fingerprinting. In this study, we characterized the population of M. tuberculosis circulating in Mie Prefecture, Japan, and assessed the utility of the proposed JATA12- and 15-VNTR analyses of 158 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates ...

Usher syndrome type IC is a rare, autosomal recessive sensorineural disorder caused by mutations in the USH1C gene, which encodes a PDZ-domain protein named harmonin. The Acadian-specific 216G-->A mutation in exon 3 and a variant 9-repeat VNTR allele (designated VNTR(t,t)) in intron 5 are in complete linkage disequilibrium. (The usual form of the allele is referred to as VNTR(t).) To gain insig...