Abstract:
ObjectiveTo explore a better subtyping method for diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) through the comparison of multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
MethodsIn this study, variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) loci were screened for the use in MLVA for subtyping of DEC, the results were then compared with those of gold standard method-PFGE.
ResultsAmong 58 DEC isolates, 43 PFGE patterns from three clusters (DI=0.965) and 42 MLVA subtypes from four clusters (DI=0.955) were obtained. The clustering of two outbreak strains showed highly consistent between the two methods.
ConclusionAlthough there was no significant difference in discriminatory power betwee MLVA and PFGE, MLVA is a rapid, simple and high-throughput subtyping method, which are superior to PFGE and has great application value in disease surveillance and disease outbreak investigation.