Nonrandom association of IS6110 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis: implications for molecular epidemiological studies

J Clin Microbiol. 1998 May;36(5):1410-3. doi: 10.1128/JCM.36.5.1410-1413.1998.

Abstract

IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism typing is now established as the primary typing method for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It has been assumed that the position of bands is random. Thus, the discrimination of the technique increases in proportion to the copy number. Two collections of M. tuberculosis were investigated to test this hypothesis. We identified 33 positions in isolates from a Tanzanian collection and 25 positions in isolates from a London, United Kingdom, collection where bands were significantly more likely to be present than would be expected by chance. These data suggest that band position is not random, and this possibility may have an impact on the interpretation of molecular epidemiological studies of M. tuberculosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • DNA Transposable Elements / genetics*
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Gene Dosage
  • London
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics*
  • Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
  • Tanzania

Substances

  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • DNA, Bacterial