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Application of PCR-mediated DNA typing in the molecular epidemiology of medically important microorganisms
- Publication date
- 8 May 1996
- Publisher
- This thesis describes the development, application and validation of the newer
DNA analysis techniques within the field of microbiological epidemiology. Emphasis is
placed on the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a test-tube technique enabling
the amplification of (parts of) DNA molecules to enormous amounts. By comparing the
genomes of microbes, insight in the mode of dissemination of given microorganisms can
be obtained. Besides, this type of laboratory procedures also allows evolutionary studies,
highlighting genomic variability perse.
In the first chapter the teclmology will be introduced and the function of molecular
typing within a microbiological laboratory will be explained. Subsequently, present day
literature describing the application of PCR in microbial epidemiology will be summarised
(chapter II). Chapters III and IV provide examples of the novel PCR approaches for
molecular tracking of the protozoan parasites Naeg/eria spp. and Giardia duodenalis. The
fact that the application of these techniques is not restricted to free-living amoebae and
intestinal parasites is demonstrated in chapters V to VIII. Monitoring spread and persistence
of fungal pathogens is performed, indicating the clinical relevance of genetic
screening of a diversity of fungal agents, pathogens that went through a steep rise in
clinical incidence during the past ten years. The last four chapters (IX to XII) describe the
technical possibilities for and the clinical implications of molecular epidemiological
studies on (methicillin-resistant) Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, chapter XIII integrates
data presented in the previous chapters and gives a summary of current knowhow and
sketches future developments.