RAPID DISCRIMINATION MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS STRAINS BY RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA ANALYSIS

Investigations of the epidemiology of tuberculosis have been hampered by the lack of strain-specific markers that can be used to differentia te isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We report the development o f a rapid protocol for random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis which included the use of a commercially available DNA extraction kit (Gene Releaser). This was applied to 14 strains of M. tuberculosis, includin g strains associated with temporal and geographical clusters of tuberc ulosis in the United Kingdom and those from India, Africa, and Saudi A rabia. Strains of M. tuberculosis could be discriminated in about 8 h by this method, which is therefore a rapid and simple alternative to r estriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.