Nucleic acids and methods for characterizing mycobacteria to the genus-, group-, species-, and subspecies specific level

摘要

Amplifying nucleic acid (NA) of the genus Mycobacterium that is over 50 nucleotides (nt) long and over 90% homologous or complementary with sequential bases in any of 52 sequences (A) fully defined in the specification, is new. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) detecting a group of Mycobacterium by mycobacterial-specific amplification and detecting members of the group with a group-specific probe; (2) detecting a species of Mycobacterium using a probe that contains at least 8 nt from a sequence over 90% homologous or complementary with (A); m (3) method, similar to (2), for detecting a subspecies of Mycobacterium using a probe of at least 12 nt homologous or complementary to (A), other than a consensus sequence (S1) given in the specification; (4) probes for use in (2) and (3); (5) set of primers for amplification of genomic mycobacterial nucleic acid containing at least two probes of (4); (6) double-stranded Mycobacterium-specific nucleic acid longer than 50 nt and with over 90% homology or complementarity with (A); and (7) reagent kit for detecting Mycobacterium species containing at least one genus- or group-specific probe and at least one species- or subspecies-specific probe.