A consensus Sequence-Based Typing (SBT) epidemiological typing scheme for clinical and environmental isolates of Legionella pneumophila has been developed by members of the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI) and evaluated for implementation in the investigation of outbreaks of legionellosis caused by L. pneumophila.

Using the SBT protocol, the SBT database (version 3.0) allows assignment of the seven ordered alleles, flaA, pilE, asd, mip, mompS, proA, and neuA as described by Gaia et al. (2005) and Ratzow et al.(2007), represented as a Sequence Type (ST), or allelic profile, of the ordered string of allele numbers separated by commas e.g. 1,4,3,1,1,1,1.

The curators encourage the submission of putative new alleles. Submission of putative new alleles can be made via the Sequence Quality Tool or by the New Allele Submission link (Options menu, left), which examines the forward and reverse chromatogram files. Subject to verification by the curators, a new allele number will be assigned and added to the database. If the curators are unable to verify a new allele, the strain or genomic DNA may be requested to allow sequencing by another designated centre. Submission of strains bearing new allele numbers to the EUL culture collection is strongly encouraged.

Please contact Dr. Norman Fry for further details.