Application of FLiP method for differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in comparison to commonly used methods, spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing.

The current "gold standard" in molecular epidemiological studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is IS6110 RFLP based on IS6110 polymorphism. However PCR-based methods are becoming increasingly important. Recently, fast ligation-mediated PCR (FLiP), based on IS6110 polymorphism was proposed. In this study, the discriminatory power of FLIP, spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing, in differentiation of M. tuberculosis isolates was compared. The discriminatory index (HGI) of spoligotyping, MIRU-VNTR analysis, and FLiP was 0.653, 0.837, and 0.917, respectively. This indicates that FLiP allows a high level of differentiation among M. tuberculosis strains and it might be a valuable alternative to the other typing methods.