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rpoB Gene mutations in rifampin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis identified by polymerase chain reaction
M Bobadilla-del-Valle1, A Ponce-de-Leon, C Arenas-Huertero
1Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencas Médicas y Nutritión Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City, Mexico.
Abstract:
The use of polymerase chain reaction-single-stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) to study rpoB gene mutations in rifampin-resistant (RIFr) Mycobacterium tuberculosis has yielded contradictory results. To determine the sensitivity of this method, we analyzed 35 RIFr strains and 11 rifampin-susceptible (RIFs) strains, using the DNA sequencing of the core region of rpoB for comparison. Of the RIFr, 24 had a PCR-SSCP pattern identical to that of H37Rv; the other 11 had four different patterns. The 11 RIFs had PCR-SSCP patterns identical to that of H37Rv. The sensitivity of the assay was 31.4%; its specificity was 100%. We observed a strong correlation between the degree of resistance and the type of mutation.