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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4058-4065, Vol. 38, No. 11
Saskatchewan Health, Provincial Laboratory,
Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 5W6, Canada,1 and
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal
Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Healthcare
Epidemiology, University of Texas Medical Branch Hospitals and Clinics,
Galveston, Texas 775552
Received 7 January 2000/Returned for modification 23 March
2000/Accepted 7 August 2000
Fluorescence-based amplified fragment length polymorphism (fbAFLP)
is a novel assay based on the fluorescent analysis of an amplified
subset of restriction fragments. The fbAFLP assay involves the
selective PCR amplification of restriction fragments from a total
digest of genomic DNA. The ligation of adapters with primer-specific sites coupled with primers containing selective nucleotides allowed the
full potential of PCR to be realized while maintaining the advantages
of restriction endonuclease analysis. Fluorescence-based fragment
analysis with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis provides the accurate
band sizing required for homology assessment. The large number of
phylogenetically informative characters obtained by fbAFLP is well
suited for cluster analysis and database development. The method
demonstrated excellent reproducibility and ease of performance and
interpretation. We typed 30 epidemiologically well-characterized
isolates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from an outbreak in a
university hospital by fbAFLP. Clustering of fbAFLP data matched
epidemiological, microbiological, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
data. This study demonstrates the unprecedented utility of fbAFLP for
epidemiological investigation. Future developments in standardization
and automation will set fbAFLP as the "gold standard" for molecular
typing in epidemiology.
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Evaluation of Fluorescence-Based Amplified Fragment Length
Polymorphism Analysis for Molecular Typing in Hospital
Epidemiology: Comparison with Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis for
Typing Strains of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus
faecium
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Molecular
Diagnostics, Provincial Laboratory, 3211 Albert St., Regina,
Saskatchewan S4S 5W6, Canada. Phone: (306) 787-7744. Fax: (306)
787-9122. E-mail: nantonis{at}health.gov.sk.ca.
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