Skip to main content
Emerging Infectious Diseases logoLink to Emerging Infectious Diseases
. 2001 May-Jun;7(3):390–396. doi: 10.3201/eid0703.010304

Spoligotype database of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: biogeographic distribution of shared types and epidemiologic and phylogenetic perspectives.

C Sola 1, I Filliol 1, M C Gutierrez 1, I Mokrousov 1, V Vincent 1, N Rastogi 1
PMCID: PMC2631784  PMID: 11384514

Abstract

We give an update on the worldwide spoligotype database, which now contains 3,319 spoligotype patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 47 countries, with 259 shared types, i.e., identical spoligotypes shared by two or more patient isolates. The 259 shared types contained a total of 2,779 (84%) of all the isolates. Seven major genetic groups represented 37% of all clustered isolates. Two types (119 and 137) were found almost exclusively in the USA and accounted for 9% of clustered isolates. The remaining 1,517 isolates were scattered into 252 different spoligotypes. This database constitutes a tool for pattern comparison of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates for global epidemiologic studies and phylogenetic purposes.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (101.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bauer J., Andersen A. B., Kremer K., Miörner H. Usefulness of spoligotyping To discriminate IS6110 low-copy-number Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains cultured in Denmark. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Aug;37(8):2602–2606. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.8.2602-2606.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bifani P. J., Mathema B., Liu Z., Moghazeh S. L., Shopsin B., Tempalski B., Driscol J., Frothingham R., Musser J. M., Alcabes P. Identification of a W variant outbreak of Mycobacterium tuberculosis via population-based molecular epidemiology. JAMA. 1999 Dec 22;282(24):2321–2327. doi: 10.1001/jama.282.24.2321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bonora S., Gutierrez M. C., Di Perri G., Brunello F., Allegranzi B., Ligozzi M., Fontana R., Concia E., Vincent V. Comparative evaluation of ligation-mediated PCR and spoligotyping as screening methods for genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Oct;37(10):3118–3123. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.10.3118-3123.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Castets M., Boisvert H., Grumbach F., Brunel M., Rist N. Les bacilles tuberculeux de type Africain: note préliminaire. Rev Tuberc Pneumol (Paris) 1968 Mar;32(2):179–184. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Diaz R., Kremer K., de Haas P. E., Gomez R. I., Marrero A., Valdivia J. A., van Embden J. D., van Soolingen D. Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Cuba outside of Havana, July 1994-June 1995: utility of spoligotyping versus IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 1998 Sep;2(9):743–750. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Escalante P., Ramaswamy S., Sanabria H., Soini H., Pan X., Valiente-Castillo O., Musser J. M. Genotypic characterization of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Peru. Tuber Lung Dis. 1998;79(2):111–118. doi: 10.1054/tuld.1998.0013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fang Z., Doig C., Kenna D. T., Smittipat N., Palittapongarnpim P., Watt B., Forbes K. J. IS6110-mediated deletions of wild-type chromosomes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Bacteriol. 1999 Feb;181(3):1014–1020. doi: 10.1128/jb.181.3.1014-1020.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fang Z., Morrison N., Watt B., Doig C., Forbes K. J. IS6110 transposition and evolutionary scenario of the direct repeat locus in a group of closely related Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. J Bacteriol. 1998 Apr;180(8):2102–2109. doi: 10.1128/jb.180.8.2102-2109.1998. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Filliol I., Sola C., Rastogi N. Detection of a previously unamplified spacer within the DR locus of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: epidemiological implications. J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Mar;38(3):1231–1234. doi: 10.1128/jcm.38.3.1231-1234.2000. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Frothingham R., Meeker-O'Connell W. A. Genetic diversity in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex based on variable numbers of tandem DNA repeats. Microbiology. 1998 May;144(Pt 5):1189–1196. doi: 10.1099/00221287-144-5-1189. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Frothingham R., Strickland P. L., Bretzel G., Ramaswamy S., Musser J. M., Williams D. L. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Mycobacterium africanum isolates from West Africa. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Jun;37(6):1921–1926. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.6.1921-1926.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Goguet de la Salmonière Y. O., Li H. M., Torrea G., Bunschoten A., van Embden J., Gicquel B. Evaluation of spoligotyping in a study of the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1997 Sep;35(9):2210–2214. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.9.2210-2214.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Goyal M., Saunders N. A., van Embden J. D., Young D. B., Shaw R. J. Differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates by spoligotyping and IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism. J Clin Microbiol. 1997 Mar;35(3):647–651. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.3.647-651.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Groenen P. M., Bunschoten A. E., van Soolingen D., van Embden J. D. Nature of DNA polymorphism in the direct repeat cluster of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; application for strain differentiation by a novel typing method. Mol Microbiol. 1993 Dec;10(5):1057–1065. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb00976.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hancock J. M. The contribution of slippage-like processes to genome evolution. J Mol Evol. 1995 Dec;41(6):1038–1047. doi: 10.1007/BF00173185. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Heyderman R. S., Goyal M., Roberts P., Ushewokunze S., Zizhou S., Marshall B. G., Makombe R., Van Embden J. D., Mason P. R., Shaw R. J. Pulmonary tuberculosis in Harare, Zimbabwe: analysis by spoligotyping. Thorax. 1998 May;53(5):346–350. doi: 10.1136/thx.53.5.346. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kamerbeek J., Schouls L., Kolk A., van Agterveld M., van Soolingen D., Kuijper S., Bunschoten A., Molhuizen H., Shaw R., Goyal M. Simultaneous detection and strain differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for diagnosis and epidemiology. J Clin Microbiol. 1997 Apr;35(4):907–914. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.4.907-914.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kremer K., van Soolingen D., Frothingham R., Haas W. H., Hermans P. W., Martín C., Palittapongarnpim P., Plikaytis B. B., Riley L. W., Yakrus M. A. Comparison of methods based on different molecular epidemiological markers for typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains: interlaboratory study of discriminatory power and reproducibility. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Aug;37(8):2607–2618. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.8.2607-2618.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kurepina N. E., Sreevatsan S., Plikaytis B. B., Bifani P. J., Connell N. D., Donnelly R. J., van Sooligen D., Musser J. M., Kreiswirth B. N. Characterization of the phylogenetic distribution and chromosomal insertion sites of five IS6110 elements in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: non-random integration in the dnaA-dnaN region. Tuber Lung Dis. 1998;79(1):31–42. doi: 10.1054/tuld.1998.0003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Källenius G., Koivula T., Ghebremichael S., Hoffner S. E., Norberg R., Svensson E., Dias F., Marklund B. I., Svenson S. B. Evolution and clonal traits of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in Guinea-Bissau. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Dec;37(12):3872–3878. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.12.3872-3878.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Long R., Nobert E., Chomyc S., van Embden J., McNamee C., Duran R. R., Talbot J., Fanning A. Transcontinental spread of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium bovis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999 Jun;159(6):2014–2017. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.159.6.9809076. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Nei M. Phylogenetic analysis in molecular evolutionary genetics. Annu Rev Genet. 1996;30:371–403. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.30.1.371. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Niang M. N., de la Salmoniere Y. G., Samb A., Hane A. A., Cisse M. F., Gicquel B., Perraut R. Characterization of M. tuberculosis strains from west African patients by spoligotyping. Microbes Infect. 1999 Dec;1(14):1189–1192. doi: 10.1016/s1286-4579(99)00243-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Popa M. I., Goguet Y., Teodor I., Popa L., Stefan M., Bãnicã D., Gicquel B. Genomic profile of Romanian M. tuberculosis strains appreciated by spoligotyping. Roum Arch Microbiol Immunol. 1997 Jan-Jun;56(1-2):63–75. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Saitou N., Nei M. The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Mol Biol Evol. 1987 Jul;4(4):406–425. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040454. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Saitou N., Nei M. The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Mol Biol Evol. 1987 Jul;4(4):406–425. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040454. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Slutkin G. Global AIDS 1981-1999: the response. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2000 Feb;4(2 Suppl 1):S24–S33. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Snider D. E., Jr, Castro K. G. The global threat of drug-resistant tuberculosis. N Engl J Med. 1998 Jun 4;338(23):1689–1690. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199806043382309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Soini H., Pan X., Amin A., Graviss E. A., Siddiqui A., Musser J. M. Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients in Houston, Texas, by spoligotyping. J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Feb;38(2):669–676. doi: 10.1128/jcm.38.2.669-676.2000. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Sola C., Devallois A., Horgen L., Maïsetti J., Filliol I., Legrand E., Rastogi N. Tuberculosis in the Caribbean: using spacer oligonucleotide typing to understand strain origin and transmission. Emerg Infect Dis. 1999 May-Jun;5(3):404–414. doi: 10.3201/eid0503.990311. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Sreevatsan S., Pan X., Stockbauer K. E., Connell N. D., Kreiswirth B. N., Whittam T. S., Musser J. M. Restricted structural gene polymorphism in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex indicates evolutionarily recent global dissemination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Sep 2;94(18):9869–9874. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.18.9869. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Tanaka M. M., Small P. M., Salamon H., Feldman M. W. The dynamics of repeated elements: applications to the epidemiology of tuberculosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Mar 28;97(7):3532–3537. doi: 10.1073/pnas.060564997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Taylor G. M., Goyal M., Legge A. J., Shaw R. J., Young D. Genotypic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from medieval human remains. Microbiology. 1999 Apr;145(Pt 4):899–904. doi: 10.1099/13500872-145-4-899. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. de C Ramos M., Soini H., Roscanni G. C., Jaques M., Villares M. C., Musser J. M. Extensive cross-contamination of specimens with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a reference laboratory. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Apr;37(4):916–919. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.4.916-919.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. van Embden J. D., van Gorkom T., Kremer K., Jansen R., van Der Zeijst B. A., Schouls L. M. Genetic variation and evolutionary origin of the direct repeat locus of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex bacteria. J Bacteriol. 2000 May;182(9):2393–2401. doi: 10.1128/jb.182.9.2393-2401.2000. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. van Soolingen D., Qian L., de Haas P. E., Douglas J. T., Traore H., Portaels F., Qing H. Z., Enkhsaikan D., Nymadawa P., van Embden J. D. Predominance of a single genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in countries of east Asia. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Dec;33(12):3234–3238. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.12.3234-3238.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. van der Zanden A. G., Hoentjen A. H., Heilmann F. G., Weltevreden E. F., Schouls L. M., van Embden J. D. Simultaneous detection and strain differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in paraffin wax embedded tissues and in stained microscopic preparations. Mol Pathol. 1998 Aug;51(4):209–214. doi: 10.1136/mp.51.4.209. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Emerging Infectious Diseases are provided here courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

RESOURCES