A latex agglutination assay for specific detection of Panton-Valentine leukocidin

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is produced by some isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, and has been associated with the high pathogenic potential of these strains. To rapidly detect the toxin producer strains, we developed a reverse passive latex agglutination (RPLA) reaction assay specific for PVL. By testing 64 S. aureus strains, the assay could detect the 35 pvl-gene-positive strains with 100% specificity and sensitivity. Furthermore, the assay revealed an extensive variation in the amount of PVL produced by the pvl-positive strains.