| 1 |
The Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.
Corresponding author, phone: 020-7449-6617, Fax: 020-7586-2870, email: Matthew.Fisher@ioz.ac.uk |
| 2 | Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2H7 |
| 3 | Mycology Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, 120 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY 12201-2002 |
| 4 | Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3102 |
Edited by John C. Avise, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, and approved May 1, 2002 (received for review March 27, 2002)
Molecular surveillance of pathogenic microbes works by genotyping isolates with DNA fingerprinting techniques and then using these genotypes to assign individuals to populations. Clonalityis assumed in many fingerprinting studies, although this assumptionhas been shown to be false for many organisms. To accommodate recombining organisms into surveillance programs, methods using population allele frequencies in combination with individual multilocus genotypes are necessary. Here, we develop a statistical method appropriate for haploid recombining microbes that allows individuals to be assigned to populations. We illustrate the usefulness of this technique by inferring the source populations for Coccidioides isolates recovered from patients treated outside the endemic area of Coccidioides sp., the etiological agents of human coccidioidomycosis, but with a travel history including visits to one or more endemicareas.