Assessment of genetic stability of Brucella melitensis Rev 1 vaccine strain by multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis

The assessment of the genetic stability is one of the essential elements to guarantee the biological quality of live anti-bacteria vaccines. Live attenuated Brucella melitensis Rev 1 is the most effective vaccine against brucellosis in small ruminants. Thirty-six B. melitensis Rev 1 vaccine strains isolated from human or animal sources from different geographic regions, from different commercial batches or laboratory collections were typed by the multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) recently described for Brucella spp. Our results demonstrated that B. melitensis Rev 1 group as assayed by MLVA is genetically very homogeneous. We believe that MLVA methodology could be an essential assay to guarantee the quality and stability of live anti-bacterial vaccines being produced worldwide and can be included as in vitro control.