A novel isothermal amplification-based method for detection of Corynebacterium striatum

Corynebacterium striatum is an emerging multidrug-resistant pathogen causing increasing numbers of infections and nosocomial outbreaks worldwide. Thus, a simple, rapid and accurate method for C. striatum is urgently required for improving diagnosis efficiency. In this study, a C. striatum-multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) with visual detection reagent (VR) assay (C. striatum-MCDA-VR), which was a novel isothermal amplification-based method, was established to detect the species-specific ftr1 gene of C. striatum. Amplification was performed at a constant temperature (68 °C) for only 40 min, and the reaction results could be easily elucidated by observation of reaction mixture color when employing the VR. The limit of detection of this method was 10 fg of pure C. striatum DNA. No cross-reaction was observed with non-C. striatum strains. In testing of clinical sputum samples, the C. striatum-MCDA-VR assay showed excellent sensitivity and specificity when compared with sputum smear tests and PCR. The C. striatum-MCDA-VR assay is a simple, rapid and cost-effective approach for identifying C. striatum in microbiological laboratories, especially in resource-limited settings.