Application of Multiple-locus Variable Number Tandem Repeat Analysis to Identify Outbreak-associated Neisseria Meningitides Serogroup C Sequence Type 4821 in China

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2015 Jan 21

PMID 25603352

Authors

Xiaoying Shan

Haijian Zhou

Ji Zhang

Bingqing Zhu

Li Xu

Guangchun Hu

Aiying Bai

Zhujun Shao

Baofa Jiang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Neisseria meningitidis (N. meningitidis) serogroup C sequence type (ST)-4821 caused an outbreak in 2010 in Shandong province of China. Twenty-one non-outbreak-associated strains were isolated, along with twenty-eight N. meningitides serogroup C ST-4821 isolates. Therefore, it's essential to identify and clarify characterization of the real outbreak-associated strains with a rapid method during an outbreak investigation. In this study, multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was applied to analyze 84 N. meningitidis strains, among which 58 were recovered from two outbreaks and 26 were sporadic isolates. Three MLVA schemes with different combination of VNTR loci were tested, and two of them were suitable for isolates from China: scheme 2 with six loci was found to separate ST into finer resolution, and scheme 3 with five loci can be used to identify outbreak-associated isolates from the same outbreak that caused by N. meningitidis serogroup C ST-4821.

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