Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1993 Sep;31(9):2446–2450. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.9.2446-2450.1993

Large-scale DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains as a tool for epidemiological studies of tuberculosis.

D Chevrel-Dellagi 1, A Abderrahman 1, R Haltiti 1, H Koubaji 1, B Gicquel 1, K Dellagi 1
PMCID: PMC265776  PMID: 8104956

Abstract

We conducted a large-scale DNA fingerprinting analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in a country in which tuberculosis is endemic (Tunisia) in order to evaluate the importance of microepidemics in the maintenance of the disease within the population. The genetic polymorphisms of 201 strains of M. tuberculosis isolated from 196 unrelated patients living in four districts of northern Tunisia during a 3-year period were studied by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis by using the insertion sequence IS6110 as a probe. Seventy-three strains isolated from 68 patients living in the districts of Tunis, Nabeul, and Jendouba generated 67 different RFLPs, indicating a high degree of polymorphism of the M. tuberculosis strains within these areas. In contrast, the 128 strains isolated from individuals in the district of Menzel Bourguiba appeared much less heterogeneous since they often generated identical or very similar fingerprints. Seventeen of 29 cases (58%) of active tuberculosis in the city of Menzel Bourguiba could be traced to as few as four M. tuberculosis strains. These results indicate the persistence of underestimated microepidemics in this region. The RFLP typing of a large number of randomly collected strains provides a general picture of the strains involved in tuberculosis. The systematic study of limited areas where tuberculosis is endemic can provide evidence for the existence of persisting epidemics. This stresses the different problems which remain to be solved in order to improve the control of tuberculosis.

Full text

PDF
2446

Images in this article

2448Image
on p.2448
2448Image
on p.2448
2449Image
on p.2449

Selected References

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

  1. Cave M. D., Eisenach K. D., McDermott P. F., Bates J. H., Crawford J. T. IS6110: conservation of sequence in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and its utilization in DNA fingerprinting. Mol Cell Probes. 1991 Feb;5(1):73–80. doi: 10.1016/0890-8508(91)90040-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Culliton B. J. Drug-resistant TB may bring epidemic. Nature. 1992 Apr 9;356(6369):473–473. doi: 10.1038/356473a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Daley C. L., Small P. M., Schecter G. F., Schoolnik G. K., McAdam R. A., Jacobs W. R., Jr, Hopewell P. C. An outbreak of tuberculosis with accelerated progression among persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. An analysis using restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms. N Engl J Med. 1992 Jan 23;326(4):231–235. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199201233260404. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Godfrey-Faussett P., Stoker N. G. Aspects of tuberculosis in Africa. 3. Genetic 'fingerprinting' for clues to the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1992 Sep-Oct;86(5):472–475. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(92)90072-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hermans P. W., van Soolingen D., Dale J. W., Schuitema A. R., McAdam R. A., Catty D., van Embden J. D. Insertion element IS986 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a useful tool for diagnosis and epidemiology of tuberculosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Sep;28(9):2051–2058. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.9.2051-2058.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kochi A. The global tuberculosis situation and the new control strategy of the World Health Organization. Tubercle. 1991 Mar;72(1):1–6. doi: 10.1016/0041-3879(91)90017-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Mazurek G. H., Cave M. D., Eisenach K. D., Wallace R. J., Jr, Bates J. H., Crawford J. T. Chromosomal DNA fingerprint patterns produced with IS6110 as strain-specific markers for epidemiologic study of tuberculosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Sep;29(9):2030–2033. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.9.2030-2033.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mitchison D. A., Ellard G. A., Grosset J. New antibacterial drugs for the treatment of mycobacterial disease in man. Br Med Bull. 1988 Jul;44(3):757–774. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a072281. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Otal I., Martín C., Vincent-Lévy-Frebault V., Thierry D., Gicquel B. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using IS6110 as an epidemiological marker in tuberculosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Jun;29(6):1252–1254. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.6.1252-1254.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Thierry D., Brisson-Noël A., Vincent-Lévy-Frébault V., Nguyen S., Guesdon J. L., Gicquel B. Characterization of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis insertion sequence, IS6110, and its application in diagnosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Dec;28(12):2668–2673. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.12.2668-2673.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Thierry D., Cave M. D., Eisenach K. D., Crawford J. T., Bates J. H., Gicquel B., Guesdon J. L. IS6110, an IS-like element of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Jan 11;18(1):188–188. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.1.188. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. van Soolingen D., Hermans P. W., de Haas P. E., Soll D. R., van Embden J. D. Occurrence and stability of insertion sequences in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains: evaluation of an insertion sequence-dependent DNA polymorphism as a tool in the epidemiology of tuberculosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Nov;29(11):2578–2586. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.11.2578-2586.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES