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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2006, p. 3954-3962, Vol. 44, No. 11
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00336-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Application of Multilocus Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat Analysis for Molecular Typing of the Agent of Leptospirosis

Laboratoire des Spirochètes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France,¹ Laboratoire de Recherche en Bactériologie, Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie, BP61, 98845 Nouméa, Nouvelle-Calédonie,² Laboratory of Epidemiology, Saint Petersburg Pasteur Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russia³

Received 15 February 2006/ Returned for modification 5 April 2006/ Accepted 14 May 2006

Leptospirosis is a worldwide-distributed zoonosis, endemic in tropical areas. Epidemiologic investigations of leptospirosis still rely on tedious serological identification tests. Recently, molecular typing systems based on variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis have been described and have been used to identify Leptospira interrogans strains. Although L. interrogans is the most common Leptospira species encountered in human infections around the world, other pathogenic species, such as Leptospira kirschneri and Leptospira borgpetersenii, are also frequently associated with human leptospirosis. In this study, we aimed to extend multilocus VNTR analysis (MLVA) identification of strains to species other than L. interrogans. We designed primers for VNTR loci found in L. interrogans, L. kirschneri, and L. borgpetersenii. The discriminatory power of the redefined primers was evaluated on collection strains and then on clinical strains. We also carried out a retrospective study on 156 strains isolated from patients and animals from New Caledonia, an area of high endemicity in the South Pacific. Our results show that this simple PCR-based MLVA typing technique is a powerful methodology for the epidemiology of leptospirosis.

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