JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schouls, L. M.
Right arrow Articles by Mooi, F. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schouls, L. M.
Right arrow Articles by Mooi, F. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2004, p. 5496-5505, Vol. 186, No. 16
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.16.5496-5505.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Multiple-Locus Variable-Number Tandem Repeat Analysis of Dutch Bordetella pertussis Strains Reveals Rapid Genetic Changes with Clonal Expansion during the Late 1990s

Leo M. Schouls,1* Han G. J. van der Heide,1 Luc Vauterin,2 Paul Vauterin,2 and Frits R. Mooi1

Laboratory for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands,1 Applied Maths, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium2

Received 20 February 2004/ Accepted 17 May 2004

Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, has remained endemic in The Netherlands despite extensive nationwide vaccination since 1953. In the 1990s, several epidemic periods have resulted in many cases of pertussis. We have proposed that strain variation has played a major role in the upsurges of this disease in The Netherlands. Therefore, molecular characterization of strains is important in identifying the causes of pertussis epidemiology. For this reason, we have developed a multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) typing system for B. pertussis. By combining the MLVA profile with the allelic profile based on multiple-antigen sequence typing, we were able to further differentiate strains. The relationships between the various genotypes were visualized by constructing a minimum spanning tree. MLVA of Dutch strains of B. pertussis revealed that the genotypes of the strains isolated in the prevaccination period were diverse and clearly distinct from the strains isolated in the 1990s. Furthermore, there was a decrease in diversity in the strains from the late 1990s, with a remarkable clonal expansion that coincided with the epidemic periods. Using this genotyping, we have been able to show that B. pertussis is much more dynamic than expected.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Phone: 31302742121. Fax: 31302744449. E-mail: LM.Schouls{at}rivm.nl.

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2004, p. 5496-5505, Vol. 186, No. 16
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.16.5496-5505.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2004 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.