Real-time PCR assay for rapid detection of epidemiologically and clinically significant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype.

Abstract : : Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype strains are rapidly disseminating, frequently hypervirulent and multidrug resistant. Here, we describe a method of their rapid detection by real-time PCR targeting the specific IS6110 insertion in the dnaA-dnaN genome region. The method was evaluated with both geographically and genetically diverse collection representing Beijing genotype-endemic and epidemic areas in East Asia and former Soviet Union i.e., major foci of its global propagation, and with clinical specimens.