Objective
This study will exploit the recently developed technique of DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains for epidemiological studies. The fingerprinting is based on the presence of the transposable element IS986 in all strains belonging to the M.tuberculosis complex. Due to the capacity of this DNA element to move within the bacterial genome, IS containing restriction fragments of different isolates greatly differ in size and as most M.tuberculosis strains contain multiple IS copies, highly variable banding patterns are observed among mycobacterial isolates. However, the IS element is enough stable to permit epidemiological studies. This study aims to collect numerous clinical isolates from various African countries, Pakistan and the Netherlands and to type these by finger printing to get insight in the different endemic types circulating in the various countries and continents. To store and to compare the relatedness of all DNA types,a computer program will be developed. The DNA typing will be used to evaluate the efficacy of various multiple drug treatment regimen. By the typing of strains isolated before and after chemotherapy for patients suffering from recurrent infections, we will be able to know whether chemotherapy is effective and whether recurrent disease is due to reinfection or to reactivation of ineffectively killed mycobacteria. Furthermore, the possible association between fingerprint type, virulence and resistance will be investigated. Finally, the reason for frequently occurring Bcg-itis as a post vaccination complication will be addressed by designing a subtyping system for M.bovis BCG
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
3720 BA Bilthoven
Netherlands