Molecular characterization of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis field isolates recovered from dairy cattle in Germany

In the present work a total of 143 Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) field isolates recovered from faeces of dairy cattle in Hessen State, Germany were investigated. Different Short Sequence Repeats (SSR), Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units (MIRU) and Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTR) were applied to classify these cattle-group field isolates into subgroups. When combining the results obtained from SSR sequencing together with the data obtained from other genotyping PCR techniques applied in the current study, 78 different Map profiles were detected. One profile dominates over the investigated field isolates. This profile was detected in 24 isolates (16.8%) with 11 G (SSR); amplicon size of 280 bp, 300 bp, 200 bp, 200 bp, 210 bp, 350 bp, 210 bp, 300 bp and 300 bp for the primer MIRU 2, MIRU 3, X3, Primer 3, Primer 7, Primer 25, Primer 47, 292 and VNTR 1658, respectively. One profile was represented by eight isolates. Two profiles were represented by six members each. The remaining isolates were subdivided into smaller groups (2 profiles each 4 isolates, 3 profiles each 3 isolates, 13 profiles as 2 isolates each and finally 56 profiles were represented by a single strain for each profile).