The use of multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to differentiate among strains of the glanders pathogen Burkholderia mallei

The glanders pathogen (Burkholderia mallei) is a highly pathogenic microorganism for humans and animals. In this article we studied the possibility of using genotyping methods for the differentiation of B. mallei strains. We characterized 14 strains of the glanders pathogen using amplification with random primers (randomly amplified polymorphic DNA, RAPD) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). It was shown that RAPD was the best of the methods used for differentiating B. mallei strains, and it may therefore be more useful for molecular-epidemiological investigations.