Abstract
In the last decade, DNA fingerprint techniques have become available to study the interperson transmission of tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections. These methods have facilitated epidemiological studies at a population level. In addition, the species identification of rarely encountered mycobacteria has improved significantly. This article describes the state of the art of the main molecular typing methods for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and non-M. tuberculosis complex (atypical) mycobacteria. Important new insights that have been gained through molecular techniques into epidemiological aspects and diagnosis of mycobacterial diseases are highlighted.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Contact Tracing
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DNA Fingerprinting*
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DNA, Bacterial / genetics
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Genetics, Microbial / trends*
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Genotype
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Humans
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Molecular Epidemiology / methods*
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Mycobacterium / classification
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Mycobacterium / genetics
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Mycobacterium / isolation & purification
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / epidemiology*
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / genetics
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Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / transmission
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics*
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Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / genetics*
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Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
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RNA, Bacterial / genetics
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Reproducibility of Results
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Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Sequence Analysis, RNA
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Transformation, Bacterial
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Tuberculosis / epidemiology*
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Tuberculosis / genetics
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Tuberculosis / transmission
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Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / epidemiology
Substances
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DNA, Bacterial
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RNA, Bacterial