Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is considered the "gold standard" for molecular epidemiological study. Repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) is less time-consuming and more suitable for analyzing large numbers of bacterial strains in human populations. PFGE and rep-PCR provide comparable genotyping results for investigating Streptococcus mutans diversity and transmission.
University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Room P230, 619 19th St., South, Birmingham, AL 35249-7331, USA. moser@uab.edu
