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Second Generation Subtyping within the European Network PulseNet Europe: Development and Validation of a Multiple-Locus Variable-Number Tandem Repeat Analysis (MLVA) System for Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli
Project
Project code: BfR-BIOS-08-1322-212
Contract period: 01.02.2007
- 31.12.2009
Purpose of research: Applied research
PulseNet Europe founded in 2002 as a network for the molecular surveillance of foodborne infections in Europe selected pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) due to its high discriminatory power as current goldstandard for subtyping foodborne pathogens. The success of PFGE as a universal subtyping method is well documented, however the technology suffers from some obvious drawbacks which necessitate the development of other subtyping methods. DNA-sequence-based methods have been recently become powerful subtyping tools in molecular epidemiology. They have the advantages of being easily standardized and automated. MLVA allows the designation of specific alleles in a discrete, rather than continuous, data set ? a significant advantage for comparing results generated from multiple laboratories over extended time frames. MLVA has been shown to be able to discriminate otherwise indistinguishable types in clonally highly related organisms.
Section overview
Subjects
- Food microbiology
- Toxicology