Comparison of two commercial methods with PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism of the tuf gene in the identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci.
OBJECTIVE
Two commercial methods for the identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were compared with the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the amplified tuf gene, which served as the reference method.


RESULTS
One hundred and forty-five CNS were evaluated using the API 32 Staph ID and the Crystal GP/ID BBL systems. The PCR-RFLP of the tuf gene served as the reference method. The APIStaph and the GP/ID BBL had an overall rate of agreement with the molecular method of 58.6% and 46.2% respectively, with the inability of the GP/ID BBL to characterize 11.7% of the isolates. The APIStaph showed higher sensitivity and better agreement than the GP/ID BBL with the PCR-RFLP, except for Staphylococcus hominis and Staphylococcus capitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Neither of the commercial systems was as reliable as the PCR-RFLP method for identifying isolates of CNS. Overall the APIStaph had better agreement with the PCR-RFLP than the GP/ID system.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that the PCR-RFLP method is more reliable than the two commercial systems tested, suggesting that it is more reliable for routinely identifying CNS.
Alexopoulou
K
K
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
Foka
A
A
Petinaki
E
E
Jelastopulu
E
E
Dimitracopoulos
G
G
Spiliopoulou
I
I
D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D003030:Coagulase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
D003030:Coagulase; D004269:DNA, Bacterial