RAPID GENE ANALYSIS OF STREPTOCOCCI BY PCR

A rapid procedure for the identification of group A streptococci has b een developed employing the polymerase chain reaction(PCR). The novel aspect of this procedure is that cells are subjected to a heat treatme nt step prior to actual PCR, which obviates a DNA isolation step from bacterial cells. Utilizing this method, several genes were amplified f rom a variety of strains. This technique should be useful for PCR ampl ification of any streptococcal gene and can be of particular use in ep demiological analyses.