Genetic diversity of Brucella abortus isolates as determined by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis

Abstract

Although Brucella abortus, the causative agent of brucellosis, is mainly under control in the United States, outbreaks do occur, particularly in wild animal herds. This study coupled amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis with the powerful Bionumerics software package to determine the genetic relationships between B. abortus field isolates, collected from infections in wild herds of elk and bison to achieve a better understanding of the molecular diversity and evolution of B. abortus. The field isolates were also compared to classic strains of B. abortus. AFLP has been shown to be an excellent method, being both rapid and accurate, for identifying genetic polymorphisms in bacterial isolates. Unfortunately, this study did not produce meaningful resolution between the field isolates but supports AFLP as a potentially influential procedure for molecular diversity research.