title: Testing for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype strains in Syrian samples.
abstract: The Beijing family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has been reported to have an exceptional capacity to spread tuberculosis (TB) and induce multi-drug resistance. A method has been developed to distinguish this family from the rest of the MTB families through real-time DNA amplification and subsequent analysis of the melting point of an amplicon. Two pools of multi-drug resistant (MDR) MTB samples collected at two different time periods from various regions in Syria have been selected. This preliminary screening indicated a complete absence of the Beijing family in all samples. This research presents an effective differentiation of bacterial Beijing strains, with minimal effort and cost through analysis of differential amplicon melting points.
authors.affiliation: National Commission for Biotechnology, Damascus, Syria. Electronic address: a.rahmo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Abdulkader
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rahmo
authors.affiliation: National Commission for Biotechnology, Damascus, Syria.
authors.forename: Buthainah
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alsalamah
authors.affiliation: Reference Tuberculosis Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Damascus, Syria.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Habous
keywords: Beijing strain; DNA melting; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Real-time PCR; Syria