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The characterization of pathogenic isolates plays a pivotal role in the epidemiology of infectious diseases, generating the information necessary for identifying, tracking, and intervening against disease outbreaks. In 1998 multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) was proposed as a nucleotide sequence-based approach that could be applied to many bacterial pathogens. It combined developments in high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics with established population genetics techniques to provide a portable, reproducible, and scalable typing system that reflected the population and evolutionary biology of bacterial pathogens. MLST schemes have been developed for a variety of procaryotic and eucaryotic pathogens and the data generated have contributed to both epidemiological surveillance and fundamental studies of pathogen biology.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.tim.2003.08.006

Type

Journal article

Journal

Trends Microbiol

Publication Date

10/2003

Volume

11

Pages

479 - 487

Keywords

Bacteria, Bacterial Infections, Bacterial Typing Techniques, Sequence Analysis, DNA