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The application of pulsed field gel electrophoresis for molecular typing of causative agents of especially dangerous infections

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Abstract

DNA macrorestriction analysis of microorganisms with the use of pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE typing, pulse electrophoresis) is used in molecular biology for the study of clonal structure and the typing of the causative agents of infectious diseases. The comparison of DNA restriction patterns is used to determine the degree of relationship, find the epidemiological correlations between studied isolates, and examine the evolutionary history of pathogens. The present review presents an analysis of the use of pulse electrophoresis in molecular epidemiological research and the study of phylogeny of especially dangerous infections such as cholera and plague. The possibility of characterizing the genetic heterogeneity of the Vibrio cholerae and Yersinia pestis populations and the territorial and epidemiological features of the spread of isolates of various pulsotypes is shown. The problems and prospects of the PFGE typing method for the system of epidemiological surveillance of cholera and plague in Russian Federation are also discussed.

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  1. Antiplague Research Institute, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, ul. Trilissera 78, Irkutsk, 664047, Russia

    L. V. Mironova, M. V. Afanas’ev & S. V. Balakhonov

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  1. L. V. Mironova
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  2. M. V. Afanas’ev
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  3. S. V. Balakhonov
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Correspondence to L. V. Mironova.

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Original Russian Text © L.V. Mironova, M.V. Afanas’ev, S.V. Balakhonov, 2015, published in Molekulyarnaya Genetika, Mikrobiologiya i Virusologiya, 2015, No. 3, pp. 28–32.

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Mironova, L.V., Afanas’ev, M.V. & Balakhonov, S.V. The application of pulsed field gel electrophoresis for molecular typing of causative agents of especially dangerous infections. Mol. Genet. Microbiol. Virol. 30, 141–147 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0891416815030052

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