02273nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653003200067653001900099653000900118653002000127653002200147653001100169653001200180653000900192653002400201653001500225653002700240653002600267653002500293653002700318653002800345100001200373700001500385700001500400245011000415856007300525300001100598490000700609050001500616520125400631022001401885       2005                            d  c2005 Oct10aAnimals10aBacterial Typing Techniques10aDNA, Bacterial10aFoot10aGenetic Markers10aGenetic Variation10aHumans10aleprosy10aMice10aMice, Inbred BALB C10aMice, Nude10aMicrosatellite Repeats10aMinisatellite Repeats10aMycobacterium leprae10aSequence Analysis, DNA10aTandem Repeat Sequences1 aZhang L1 aBudiawan T1 aMatsuoka M00aDiversity of potential short tandem repeats in Mycobacterium leprae and application for molecular typing.  uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1248435/pdf/0091-05.pdf  a5221-90 v43  aZHANG 20053 a<p>A recent advance in molecular typing for tracing the transmission of leprosy is the discovery of short tandem repeats (STRs) in Mycobacterium leprae. To substantiate polymorphic loci from STR as promising candidates for molecular typing tools in leprosy epidemiology, 44 STR loci including 33 microsatellites and 11 minisatellites were investigated among 27 laboratory strains by sequencing PCR products. Not all STRs were necessarily polymorphic. Thirty-two out of the 44 loci were polymorphic. Nine polymorphic loci were suitable for identifying genotypes according to the discriminatory capacity, stability, and reproducibility. All the strains were classified into independent genotypes by the selected nine loci. Three multi-case households were subjected to molecular typing. M. leprae obtained from household cases showed identical copy numbers by TTC triplet alone, but the isolates from one family contact case were divided into different genotypes by adding eight other polymorphic loci. The combination of information from multiple loci allows increasing levels of discrimination and it is likely that the generation and documentation of data will result in the choice of a potential molecular typing tool for leprosy epidemiology.</p>  a0095-1137