Molecular typing of Trichomonas vaginalis isolates by HSP70 restriction fragment length polymorphism

Subtyping isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis is an essential tool for unders tanding the epidemiology of this common sexually-transmitted disease. Restr iction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis employing a probe from the heat-inducible cytoplasmic HSP70 gene family hybridized with EcoR I-dig ested genomic DNA was used in the molecular typing of Trichomonas isolates. Analysis of five American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) reference strains and 31 Jackson, Mississippi, isolates from six male and 21 female patients , revealed 10 distinct RFLP pattern subtypes of Trichomonas. The subtypes w ere temporally stable and cosmopolitan. The RFLP profiles seen in Maryland, Ohio, Massachusetts, and New York ATCC strains were identical to those of some Mississippi isolates, even though the samples were isolated 10-35 year s apart. There was no correlation between metronidazole resistance and RFLP subtype with resistant isolates from eight patients distributed among six different subtypes.