Molecular characteristic of isolates from Sumba Island at East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

AIM

This study aimed to determine the molecular characteristics of isolates originated from Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The isolates of stored in frozen storage were cultured in blood agar as a selective medium and identified conventionally. Molecular tests were initiated by DNA isolation and then followed by polymerase chain reaction tests with specific primers for the determination of serotype A or B. Positive strain of serotype B was then confirmed molecularly using 16S rRNA gene primer and followed by the sequencing of nucleotides.

RESULTS

The study showed that both isolates from Sumba island, i.e. PM1 is isolated from East Sumba district, while PM2 isolated from West Sumba district have 99.6% homology. Both isolates also known have 99% similarities with originated from India, Britain, and Japan, respectively. The isolates share the same clade in the phylogenetic tree.

CONCLUSION

The 16S rRNA sequencing revealed a high similarity of serotype B:2 isolated from Sumba island with the Indian isolates although the sample size is very small. Therefore, further molecular studies like multilocus sequence typing, VNTR need to be performed using a larger number of samples to establish the genetic relatedness observed in this study.