Identification of Rickettsia prowazekii using the polymerase chain reaction

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify Rickettsia prowazekii, the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus. For the PCR, Thermus thermophilus thermostable DNA polymerase was applied with buffer containing a relatively low Mg2+ concentration (1.5-2 mM with dNTP's at 250 microM each). A p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of epidemiology 1993-11, Vol.9 (6), p.645-649
Main Authors: Aniskovich, L P, Motin, V L, Lichoded, L J, Balayeva, N M, Smirnov, G B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Sequence
Blotting, Southern
Chick Embryo
DNA Primers
DNA, Bacterial - analysis
Electrophoresis, Agar Gel
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods
Rickettsia prowazekii - genetics
Rickettsia prowazekii - isolation & purification
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Summary:Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify Rickettsia prowazekii, the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus. For the PCR, Thermus thermophilus thermostable DNA polymerase was applied with buffer containing a relatively low Mg2+ concentration (1.5-2 mM with dNTP's at 250 microM each). A primer pair used to amplify a 448-base-pair (bp) fragment of R. prowazekii genome was synthesized on the basis of the DNA sequence of gene rpa14/16, coding for a precursor of the mature polypeptides of molecular weight (Mr) 14,000 and/or 16,000 (16kD) from R. prowazekii strain E. For determining the specificity of the primer pair, purified genomic DNAs of 16 rickettsial and 10 other bacterial strains were used.
ISSN:0393-2990
0392-2990
1573-7284
DOI:10.1007/BF00211440