02142nas a2200385 4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001500067653001900082653002200101653001300123653001100136653001200147653000900159653002700168653002500195653003000220100001300250700001200263700001500275700001200290700001700302700001400319700001100333700001500344700003100359245008200390856005100472300001100523490000700534050003200541520116900573022001401742 2009 d c2009 Sep10aAnimals10aArmadillos10aDNA, Bacterial10aGenetic Variation10agenotype10aHumans10aleprosy10aMice10aMicrosatellite Repeats10aMycobacterium leprae10apolymerase chain reaction1 aGillis T1 aVissa V1 aMatsuoka M1 aYoung S1 aRichardus JH1 aTruman RW1 aHall B1 aBrennan PJ1 aIdeal Consortium Partners 00aCharacterisation of short tandem repeats for genotyping Mycobacterium leprae. uhttps://leprosyreview.org/article/80/3/25-0260 a250-600 v80 aInfolep Library - available3 a

OBJECTIVE: Establish a typing system for Mycobacterium leprae based on polymorphic DNA structures known as short tandem repeats (STR).

DESIGN: Assess 16 polymorphic STR for sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility in standard assays using reference strains of M. leprae.

RESULTS: Primers for 16 STR loci were selected based on PCR product size and for their ability to sequence each STR locus from both directions. All primer pairs produced a visible PCR amplicon of appropriate size from PCR reactions containing 10 M. leprae cells. DNA sequences for each STR locus, except (AT) 15, was correctly identified as M. leprae-specific in replicate samples containing 1000 M. leprae using either the forward or reverse PCR primers. Twelve of 13 M. leprae STR loci were stable during passage in heavily infected armadillo tissues over a 5 year and 7 month infection cycle.

CONCLUSIONS: Certain M. leprae STR provide suitable targets for strain typing with the potential for grouping M. leprae with shared genotypes that may prove useful for establishing linkages between leprosy cases within geographical regions.

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