Discrimination of human pathogenic subspecies of Francisella tularensis by using restriction fragment length polymorphism

Rebecca Thomas; Anders Johansson; Brendan Neeson; Karen Isherwood; Anders Sjöstedt; Jill Ellis; Richard W Titball

doi:10.1128/JCM.41.1.50-57.2003

Discrimination of human pathogenic subspecies of Francisella tularensis by using restriction fragment length polymorphism

J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Jan;41(1):50-7. doi: 10.1128/JCM.41.1.50-57.2003.

Authors

Rebecca Thomas¹, Anders Johansson, Brendan Neeson, Karen Isherwood, Anders Sjöstedt, Jill Ellis, Richard W Titball

Affiliation

¹ Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, CBS Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0JQ, United Kingdom. [email protected]

Abstract

We describe the use of two insertion sequence elements (ISFtu1 and ISFtu2) in Francisella tularensis to type strains by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The RFLP profiles of 17 epidemiologically unrelated isolates were determined and compared. Our results showed that RFLP profiles can be used to assign F. tularensis strains into five main groups corresponding to strains of F. tularensis subsp. tularensis, F. tularensis strain ATCC 6223, strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica, strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica from Japan, and F. tularensis subsp. mediaasiatica. The results confirm the genetic identities of these subspecies and also support the suggestion that strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica from Japan should be considered members of a separate biovar. These findings should support future studies to determine the genetic differences between strains of F. tularensis at the whole-genome level.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

DNA Transposable Elements / physiology
DNA, Bacterial / analysis
Francisella tularensis / classification*
Francisella tularensis / genetics
Humans
Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

Substances

DNA Transposable Elements
DNA, Bacterial