COMPOSITIONS FOR USE IN IDENTIFICATION OF CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE
First Claim
1. A purified oligonucleotide primer pair for identifying a strain of Clostridium difficile in a sample, said primer pair comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each configured to hybridize to nucleic acid of two or more different species or strains of bacteria in a nucleic acid amplification reaction which produces an amplification product between about 29 to about 200 nucleobases in length, said amplification product comprising portions corresponding to a forward primer hybridization region, a reverse primer hybridization region and an intervening region having a base composition which varies among amplification products produced from nucleic acid of said two or more different species or strains of bacteria, said base composition of said intervening region providing a means for identifying said a strain of Clostridium difficile.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates generally to identification of strains of Clostridium difficile and provides methods, compositions and kits useful for this purpose when combined, for example, with molecular mass or base composition analysis.
99 Citations
38 Claims
- 1. A purified oligonucleotide primer pair for identifying a strain of Clostridium difficile in a sample, said primer pair comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each configured to hybridize to nucleic acid of two or more different species or strains of bacteria in a nucleic acid amplification reaction which produces an amplification product between about 29 to about 200 nucleobases in length, said amplification product comprising portions corresponding to a forward primer hybridization region, a reverse primer hybridization region and an intervening region having a base composition which varies among amplification products produced from nucleic acid of said two or more different species or strains of bacteria, said base composition of said intervening region providing a means for identifying said a strain of Clostridium difficile.
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14. An isolated amplification product for identification of strain of Clostridium difficile, said amplification product produced by a process comprising:
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a) amplifying nucleic acid of a bacterium in a reaction mixture comprising a primer pair, said primer pair comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each configured to hybridize to nucleic acid of two or more different strains of Clostridium difficile in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, said amplification product having a length of about 29 to about 200 nucleobases and comprising portions corresponding to a forward primer hybridization region, a reverse primer hybridization region and an intervening region having a base composition which varies among amplification products produced from nucleic acid of said two or more different strains of Clostridium difficile, said base composition of said intervening region providing a means for identifying said strain of Clostridium difficile; and b) isolating said amplification product from said reaction mixture. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 37)
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34. A kit comprising one or more purified primer pairs for identifying a strain of Clostridium difficile in a sample, each member of said one or more primer pairs having at least 70% sequence identity with a corresponding member of one or more primer pairs selected from the group consisting of:
- SEQ ID NOs;
18;
19, 8;
25, 21;
2, 17;
23, 14;
10, 24;
7, 22;
5, 3;
11, 13;
9, 12;
20, 15;
6, 16;
6 and 1;
4. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
- SEQ ID NOs;
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38. The system of claim 47 wherein said database of known molecular masses and/or known base compositions of amplification products of strains of Clostridium difficile includes amplification products defined by one or more primer pairs wherein each member of said one or more primer pairs has at least 70% sequence identity with a corresponding member of a corresponding primer pair selected from the group consisting of:
- SEQ ID NOs;
18;
19, 8;
25, 21;
2, 17;
23, 14;
10, 24;
7, 22;
5, 3;
11, 13;
9, 12;
20, 15;
6, 16;
6 and 1;
4.
- SEQ ID NOs;
Specification