Related Experiment Videos
Double-repetitive-element PCR method for subtyping Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates
C R Friedman1, M Y Stoeckle, W D Johnson
1Division of Infectious Diseases, Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York 10021, USA.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
|May 1, 1995
Summary
A new double-repetitive-element PCR method rapidly subtypes Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This technique shows similar discriminating power to traditional restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for clinical isolates.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) subtyping is crucial for epidemiology and control.
- Traditional methods like restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis are time-consuming.
- There is a need for rapid and effective M. tuberculosis subtyping techniques.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a rapid method for subtyping M. tuberculosis.
- To compare the discriminatory power of the novel method with conventional RFLP analysis.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel subtyping technique: double-repetitive-element PCR.
- Amplification of DNA segments located between two distinct repetitive elements in M. tuberculosis.
- Comparison of results with conventional restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis.
Main Results:
- The double-repetitive-element PCR method successfully subtyped 46 clinical isolates.
- The novel method identified 25 distinct patterns among the isolates.
- Conventional RFLP analysis identified 23 distinct patterns in the same isolates, showing comparable discriminatory power.
Conclusions:
- Double-repetitive-element PCR is a rapid and effective method for M. tuberculosis subtyping.
- The method offers a valuable alternative to RFLP analysis, with similar discriminatory capacity.
- This rapid technique can aid in the epidemiological surveillance and control of tuberculosis.