Current Methods in the Molecular Typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Other Mycobacteria

Table 1

Selected typing methods for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and level of genetic polymorphism they reveal.

Typing method	DNA target	Polymorphism	References*
IS6110-RFLP	IS6110	High	van Embden et al., 1993 [48]
ML-PCR		High	Haas et al., 1993 [58]
FliP		High	Reisig et al., 2005 [59]
LM-PCR		High	Prod’hom et al., 1997 [60]
HIP		High	Kearns et al., 2000 [61]
Spoligotyping	DR locus	Low	Kamerbeek et al., 1997 [62]
VNTR typing	ETRs A–E	Low	Frothingham and Meeker-O’Connell, 1998 [63]
MIRU-VNTR typing	MIRUs	High	Supply et al., 2001 [64]
DRE-PCR	IS6110/PGRS	High	Friedman et al., 1995 [65]
IS6110-ampliprinting	IS6110/MPTR	High	Plikaytis et al., 1993 [66]
IS6110-Mtb1-Mtb2 PCR	IS6110/Mtb1/Mtb2	High	Kotlowski et al., 2004 [67]

∗Papers with original description of a given method.
RFLP: restriction fragment length polymorphism; ML-PCR: mixed linker PCR; FliP: fast ligation-mediated PCR; LM-PCR: ligation-mediated PCR; HIP: heminested inverse PCR; VNTRs: variable numbers of tandem repeats; MIRU: mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units; DRE-PCR: double-repetitive-element PCR; DR: direct repeat; ETR: exact tandem repeat; PGRS: polymorphic GC-rich sequence; MPTR: major polymorphic tandem repeat.