A MULTIPLEX POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR DISTINGUISHING MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS FROM MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEX

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction has been developed which is able to distinguish Mycobacterium tuberculosis from other members of the M . tuberculosis complex. The assay is based on the simultaneous amplifi cation of two different targets: a 396bp region from the mtp40 species -specific gene sequence of M. tuberculosis and a 245bp fragment from t he M. tuberculosis complex insertion sequence IS986. Results have been obtained for 54 mycobacterial strains including five non-M. tuberculo sis complex isolates. All 49 strains of the M. tuberculosis complex we re positive for IS986 but only the 27 M. tuberculosis isolates were po sitive for both IS986 and mtp40. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited