Rapid polymerase chain reaction-based screening assay for bacterial biothreat agents

To design and evaluate a rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay for detecting Eubacteria and performing early screening for selected Class A biothreat bacterial pathogens.

The authors designed a two-step PCR-based algorithm consisting of an initial broad-based universal detection step, followed by specific pathogen identification targeted for identification of the Class A bacterial biothreat agents. A region in the bacterial 16S rRNA gene containing a highly variable sequence flanked by clusters of conserved sequences was chosen as the target for the PCR assay design. A previously described highly conserved region located within the 16S rRNA amplicon was selected as the universal probe (UniProbe, Integrated DNA Technology, Coralville, IA). Pathogen-specific TaqMan probes were designed for Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, and Francisella tularensis. Performance of the assay was assessed using genomic DNA extracted from the aforementioned biothreat-related organisms (inactivated or surrogate) and other common bacteria.

The UniProbe detected the presence of all tested Eubacteria (31/31) with high analytical sensitivity. The biothreat-specific probes accurately identified organisms down to the closely related species and genus level, but were unable to discriminate between very close surrogates, such as Yersinia philomiragia and Bacillus cereus.

A simple, two-step PCR-based assay proved capable of both universal bacterial detection and identification of select Class A bacterial biothreat and biothreat-related pathogens. Although this assay requires confirmatory testing for definitive species identification, the method has great potential for use in ED-based settings for rapid diagnosis in cases of suspected Category A bacterial biothreat agents.