title: Serotype-specific amplification of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with nested primer pairs was used to diagnose scrub typhus and identify the Rickettsia tsutsugamushi serotype. The primer pairs used for PCR were designed on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of the gene that encodes the 56-kDa antigen. Serotype-specific primers were used in the second PCR amplification. Five serovariants, the Gilliam, Karp, Kato, Kawasaki, and Kuroki strains of R. tsutsugamushi, were identified by nested PCR. In addition, the serotype identified by PCR with DNA from blood clots was the same as that of the strain isolated from five patients with scrub typhus. These findings indicate that this method is useful for diagnosis and identification of the rickettsial serotype in infected patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Kanagawa Prefectural Public Health Laboratory, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawamura
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial