[Application of multiplex polymerase chain reaction in rapid identification of Mycobacterium bovis BCG].
OBJECTIVE
To establish a method for the rapid identification of Mycobacterium bovis BCG.


METHODS
A genomic region designated RD1 was found to be deleted from BCG strains, but present in other strains of Mycobacterium bovis and other members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium africanum, and Mycobacterium microti. With this information, a multiplex PCR method, developed to detect the deletion of RD1, was used to differentiate BCG strains from other strains of Mycobacterium bovis and other members of MTC.


RESULTS
RD1 was shown to be absent in 5 BCG vaccine strains and 2 BCG strains isolated from an infant who died of systemic disseminated infection induced by BCG vaccination, but it was present in 3 Mycobacterium bovis standard strains, 6 Mycobacterium bovis strains isolated from diseased cows, deer or patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and other MTC strains including Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv and H(37)Ra strains, 48 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, and 3 Mycobacterium africanum standard strains.


CONCLUSIONS
The multiplex PCR method is simple, rapid, and specific for the identification of BCG among strains of MTC, and is applicable in clinical laboratories.
Li
Guo-li
GL
Tuberculosis Research Laboratory, 309th Hospital of People Liberation Army, Beijing 100091, China.
Chen
Bao-wen
BW
Zhuang
Yu-hui
YH
Wang
Guo-zhi
GZ
Zhao
Ming
M
Shen
Xiao-bing
XB
Sun
Gui-zhi
GZ
D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*