Driscoll Jeffrey R
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2009;551:117-28. doi: 10.1007/978-1-60327-999-4_10.
Spacer oligonucleotide typing, or spoligotyping, is a rapid, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for genotyping strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB). Spoligotyping data can be represented in absolute terms (digitally), and the results can be readily shared among laboratories, thereby enabling the creation of large international databases. Since the spoligotype assay was standardized more than 10 yr ago, tens of thousands of isolates have been analyzed, giving a global picture of MTB strain diversity. The method is highly reproducible and has been developed into a high-throughput assay for large molecular epidemiology projects. In the United States, spoligotyping is employed on nearly all newly identified culture-positive cases of tuberculosis as part of a national genotyping program. The strengths of this method include its low cost, its digital data results, the good correlation of its results with other genetics markers, its fair level of overall differentiation of strains, its high-throughput capacity, and its ability to provide species information. However, the method's weaknesses include the inability of spoligotyping to differentiate well within large strain families such as the Beijing family, the potential for convergent evolution of patterns, the limited success in improving the assay through expansion, and the difficulty in obtaining the specialized membranes and instrumentation.
间隔寡核苷酸分型，即 spoligotyping，是一种基于聚合酶链反应（PCR）的快速方法，用于对结核分枝杆菌复合群（MTB）菌株进行基因分型。Spoligotyping 数据可以用绝对值（数字化）表示，结果可以在各实验室之间轻松共享，从而能够创建大型国际数据库。自从 10 多年前 spoligotype 检测标准化以来，已经分析了数以万计的分离株，呈现出 MTB 菌株多样性的全球概况。该方法具有高度可重复性，已发展成为用于大型分子流行病学项目的高通量检测方法。在美国，作为国家基因分型计划的一部分，几乎所有新确诊的培养阳性结核病例都采用 spoligotyping 方法。该方法的优点包括成本低、数据数字化、结果与其他遗传标记相关性良好、菌株总体鉴别水平尚可、高通量能力以及能够提供菌种信息。然而，该方法的缺点包括在诸如北京家族等大型菌株家族中鉴别能力不佳、模式可能发生趋同进化、通过扩展改进检测的成效有限以及获取专用膜和仪器存在困难。
