The concept of the Multilocus Sequence Typing Module
The idea behind the module is to eliminate much of the manual work previously required to do MLST. Once a reference scheme has been downloaded, a standard typing of an isolate is done with a few clicks.The data structure of the Multilocus Sequence Typing Module can be described with two concepts: scheme and isolate. The MLST scheme contains sequence information and allelic profiles of known sequence types. An isolate is a collection of sequences of one bacteria isolate.
The central point of interaction between the scheme and the isolate is the typing of the isolate. When an isolate has been created, it is compared with the MLST scheme to determine the sequence type. This is done dynamically every time the isolate is opened, providing the opportunity to extend the scheme with new types and immediately have an updated sequence type of the isolate.
The MLST schemes are described in further detail in Handling MLST schemes, and isolates are described in further detail in Isolates