Multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis in Salmonella isolates as an effective molecular subtyping method

Due to the limitations of serotyping, to differentiate closely related microbial isolates and to investigate disease outbreaks, molecular genotyping methods including multiple loci variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) has been developed. The usefulness of MLVA was recently demonstrated for Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Enteritidis isolated from human sources in Iran. In the present study. The discriminatory ability of this method was investigated in 78 Iranian Salmonella enterica isolates. Salmonella strains isolated from human urine, stool, bone marrow, blood, ascites and synovial fluid sources in Iran during the years 2012 and 2015 were analyzed. Among these 78 Salmonella isolates, 70 isolates belonging to eight serotypes/serogroups, while eight were nontypeable. Six VNTR loci were amplified from all isolates. The isolates were distributed into 67 genotypes. Two out of the 6 markers (Sal20 and Sal16) were highly discriminatory for all strains (DI > 0.80) while composition of all VNTR loci produced 67 different types with 0.995 D value. The high discrimination power of MLVA in Salmonella molecular typing via combination of VNTR loci studied here, suggesting that this method is highly valuable for molecular epidemiology of Salmonella strains.