DNA Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates by Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction

Strain identification of Mycobeterium tuberculosis would prove whether transmission had occurred between individuals. A method to characterize strains of M. tuberculosis has been developed utilizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Purified chromosomal DNA of cultured clinical samples of M. tuberculosis were subjected to PCR using short (10-12 nucleotide) oligonucleotide primers. PCR products visualized after agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining demonstrated that different strains of M. tuberculosis give different banding patterns