Open AccessRapid identification of Streptococcus intermedius by PCR with the ily gene as a species marker gene
Author(s) -
Tomio Goto,
Hideaki Nagamune,
Akio Miyazaki,
Yoshiaki Kawamura,
Ooki Ohnishi,
Kanako Hattori,
Kazuto Ohkura,
Kazuaki Miyamoto,
Shigeru Akimoto,
Takayuki Ezaki,
Kaoru Hirota,
Yoichiro Miyake,
Takuya Maeda,
Hiroki Kourai
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of medical microbiology/journal of medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1473-5644
pISSN - 0022-2615
DOI - 10.1099/0022-1317-51-2-178
Subject(s) - streptococcus intermedius , biology , streptococcus anginosus , polymerase chain reaction , gene , subspecies , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , streptococcus milleri , amplicon , multiplex polymerase chain reaction , streptococcus , bacteria , paleontology
Streptococcus intermedius belongs to the anginosus group of streptococci (AGS) and is associated with endogenous infections leading to abscesses in the oral cavity and at deepseated sites, such as the brain and liver. Two other species, S. anginosus and S. constellatus, and some presently unnamed taxa, are also classified as AGS. Recently, S. constellatus subsp. pharyngis, a new subspecies with biochemical characteristics similar to S. intermedius, was described with the potential for causing confusion when trying to identify isolates of these two species routinely with commercial identification kits, such as Rapid ID32 Strep and Fluo-Card Milleri. To correctly identify S. intermedius, this study attempted to develop an accurate PCR identification system with the ily gene as a species marker. This approach relies on amplification of an 819-bp fragment of the ily gene and its 3'-flanking region and is shown here to be specific for S. intermedius strains among all other streptococcal species. Moreover, this PCR system was applicable in direct rapid PCR with whole bacterial cells and TaKaRa Z-Taq (TaKaRa), a highly efficient DNA polymerase, as the template and DNA amplification enzyme, respectively.