Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026
DNA Fingerprinting of Mycobacterium leprae Strains Using Variable Number Tandem Repeat VNTR - Fragment Length Analysis FLA
Published on: July 15, 2011
Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis is superior to spa typing and sufficient to characterize MRSA
Thijs Bosch1, Gerlinde N Pluister1, Martijn van Luit1
1Laboratory for Infectious Diseases & Screening, National Institute for Public Health & the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Aim:
Assess the best approach to type methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing, multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) or both.
Materials & Methods:
Discriminatory power of spa typing and MLVA was determined using 20,771 MRSA isolates.
Results:
There were twice as many MLVA types (MTs) as spa types present in the collection. Among the top 70% of the isolates, 37 spa types and 139 MTs were found. MLVA diversity among the top-10 spa types was high (diversity index 0.96), while spa diversity among the top-10 MTs was much lower (diversity index 0.83). The probability that two MRSA isolates with the same spa type also had the same MT was low (Wallace's coefficient 0.27). By contrast, most MRSA isolates yielding the same MT also had the same spa type (Wallace's coefficient 0.90).
Conclusion:
MLVA is superior to spa typing and will suffice to characterize MRSA isolates for surveillance.
More Related Videos
10:33Multi-locus Variable-number Tandem-repeat Analysis of the Fish-pathogenic Bacterium Yersinia ruckeri by Multiplex PCR and Capillary Electrophoresis
Published on: June 17, 2019
09:03Multiplex PCR Assay for Typing of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome Mec Types I to V in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Published on: September 5, 2013
Related Concept Videos
01:25Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance
01:29Modern Molecular Taxonomy
01:25Mechanism of Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA