Ureaplasma Urealyticum and Ureaplasma Parvum

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ureaplasma Urealyticum and Ureaplasma Parvum The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, Vol. 13, No. 2, March 2011 Copyright © 2011 American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2010.10.007 Modified Real-Time PCR for Detecting, Differentiating, and Quantifying Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum Ellen Vancutsem,* Oriane Soetens,* microbiological methods and are, therefore, usually re- Maria Breugelmans,† Walter Foulon,† ferred to as Ureaplasma species. They are found in the and Anne Naessens* lower genital tract of nearly 50% of pregnant women as part of the normal vaginal flora. However, in some cases, From the Departments of Microbiology and Infection Control* Ureaplasma species have interfered with normal fetal de- and Obstetrics,† Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Brussels, velopment by causing an ascending infection.2–7 The Belgium reason for this infection is not fully understood but may be associated with the virulence of the microorganism, the host immune system, or local factors present in the lower We evaluated a previously described quantitative real- genital tract. Species differentiation might be important time PCR (qPCR) for quantifying and differentiating because previous studies2,8,9 suggest that nongonococ- Ureaplasma parvum and U. urealyticum. Because of cal urethritis and an adverse pregnancy outcome with nonspecific reactions with Staphylococcus aureus respect to birth weight, gestational age, and preterm DNA in the U. parvum PCR, we developed a modified delivery are implicated with the presence of U. urealyti- qPCR and designed new primers. These oligonucleo- cum and not with U. parvum. tides eradicated cross-reactions, indicating higher Because strains can only be differentiated with la- specificity. The detection limits of the qPCR were de- bor-intensive serotyping, an easy-to-perform sensitive termined at 1 and 3 colony-forming units/ml for U. method for differentiating the two species is necessary on parvum and U. urealyticum, respectively. The quan- initiation of pathogenicity studies. Quantitative real-time tification limits of the assay for both Ureaplasma PCR (qPCR) presents an interesting option because the 6 1 species ranged from 2.10 to 2.10 copy numbers per strains can be differentiated together, with evaluation of PCR. A total of 300 patient samples obtained from the the microbial burden in the lower genital tract. Moreover, lower genital tract were tested with this newly de- qPCR can be performed within two hours because of the signed qPCR assay and compared with culture results. elimination of postamplification handling. Of the samples, 132 (44.0%) were culture positive, In a recent study,10 qPCR was used to detect and whereas 151 (50.3%) tested positive using qPCR. The quantify U. parvum and U. urealyticum in specimens from U. parvum and U. urealyticum species were present in the lower genital tract. This test was evaluated in our 79.5% and 12.6% of the qPCR-positive samples, re- laboratory and did allow the differentiation and quantifi- spectively. Both species were found in 7.9% of those cation of U. urealyticum and U. parvum in two separate samples. Quantification of U. parvum and U. urea- reaction mixtures. However, cross-reactions with Staph- ؋ lyticum in the samples ranged from less than 2.5 ylococcus aureus DNA were encountered in the U. parvum ؋ 7 3 10 to 7.4 10 copies per specimen. In conclusion, mixture. the modified qPCR is a suitable method for rapid In this study, we investigated the nature of these cross- detection, differentiation, and quantification of U. reactions by sequence analysis of the nonspecific ampli- parvum and U. urealyticum. (J Mol Diagn 2011, 13: fication product, and we compared this sequence with 206–212; DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2010.10.007) the National Center for Biotechnology Information data- base. We designed new primers targeting the urease gene of U. parvum to improve the specificity of the qPCR. The genus Ureaplasma belongs to the Mycoplasmataceae Furthermore, the method was adapted to be more prac- family. Ureaplasmas are small prokaryotic cells that lack tical for a routine laboratory setting and the phocine her- a cell wall. Previously, there was only one known species found in humans (namely, Ureaplasma urealyticum) com- 1 prising 14 serotypes. In 2002, Robertson et al proposed Supported by a grant from Steunfonds Marguerite-Marie Delacroix. subdividing this species into U. parvum, comprising se- Accepted for publication October 13, 2010. rotypes 1, 3, 6, and 14; and U. urealyticum, comprising Address reprint requests to Ellen Vancutsem, MSc, Department of Micro- serotypes 2, 4, 5, and 7 through 13. These subtypes biology and Infection Control, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Laarbeeklaan cannot be distinguished from each other with routine 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: [email protected]. 206 Quantitative PCR for Ureaplasma Species 207 JMD March 2011, Vol. 13, No. 2 pesvirus 1 (PhHV1) was included as an internal control to for primer specificity (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, acces- monitor for the presence of inhibitory factors in the clinical sion date October 1, 2008). Primers were chosen within samples. the ureD subunit of the urease gene of U. parvum and U. urealyticum. One copy of this gene is present per cell. The amplicon product sizes were 147 and 146 bp for U. Materials and Methods parvum and U. urealyticum, respectively. Investigating the Issue of Specificity in the Original Method PCR Internal Control PCR inhibition and extraction were monitored by am- Reaction mixtures and cycling conditions were per- plifying the PhHV1. The use of this virus as a control for formed as previously described.10 Primer and probe se- extraction and the presence of amplification inhibitors quences were blasted with the GenBank database to were originally described by Niesters.11 The virus strain confirm specificity (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, acces- was provided by the Department of Virology, University sion date April 25, 2008). Assay specificity was assessed Hospital Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. with the 14 reference strains of U. parvum (serotypes 1, 3, 6, and 14) and U. urealyticum (serotypes 2, 4, 5, and 7 through 13). In addition to the 14 reference strains of Modified qPCR Protocol Ureaplasma species, assay specificity was also deter- To detect both Ureaplasma species, real-time PCR was mined with 11 human Mycoplasma species, 29 bacte- performed in two separate 25-␮L reaction mixtures. The rial species, 1 yeast, and 1 viral pathogen: Acinetobac- PhHV1 viral DNA was detected in multiplex PCR with the ter baumannii, Bacteroides fragilis, Bordetella pertussis, two reaction mixtures for U. parvum and U. urealyticum Burkholderia cepacia, Citrobacter freundii, Chlamydia tracho- DNA. The reaction mixtures contained a ready-to-use 2x matis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Gardnerella real-time PCR reaction mix containing all necessary com- vaginalis, Herpes simplex virus 1/2, Listeria monocytogenes, ponents without primers and probes (IQ Multiplex Pow- Micrococcus species, Mobiluncus mulieris, Moraxella ca- ermix, Bio-Rad, Nazareth-Eke, Belgium), 0.35 ␮mol/L of tarrhalis, Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma amphiforme, My- each primer, and 0.2 ␮mol/L of each probe (forward and coplasma fermentans, Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma reverse primer and probe of the target organism and of orale, Mycoplasma penetrans, Mycoplasma pirum, Myco- the internal control). DNA template, 2 ␮L, was added to plasma primatum, Mycoplasma salivarium, Mycoplasma the 23-␮L reaction mixtures. Probes (Taqman Minor spermatophilum, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Pseudomonas Groove Binder) for U. parvum (5=-FAM-TTGACCACCCT- aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Stenotrophomonas mal- TACGAG-MGB-3=) and U. urealyticum (5=-FAM-TTGTC- tophilia, Streptococcus agalactiae (group B), Streptococ- CGCCTTTACGAG-MGB-3=) were manufactured by Ap- cus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bordetella plied Biosystems (Warrington, UK). The Taqman probe parapertussis, Candida albicans, Hemophilus influenzae, for the internal control (Texas 5=-Red-TTTTTATGTGTC- Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Lactobacillus CGCCACCATCTGGATC-BHQ1-3=) was manufactured by species, Morganella morganii, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylo- Eurogentec (Luik, Belgium). Cycling conditions were as fol- coccus aureus oxacillin R, Staphylococcus aureus oxacillin lows: 95°C for 3 minutes, followed by 45 cycles of 95°C S, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The last 11 organisms for 15 seconds and 58°C for 30 seconds. Amplification, are urease positive, which is important in specificity test- detection, and analysis were performed with a commer- ing because the urease gene is the target gene for cially available system (iCycler IQ real-time detection amplification. system; Bio-Rad). Data collection was performed during Nonspecific reactions were repeatedly tested (10-fold) the annealing step. The relative fluorescence measure- with reference strains (to confirm the presence of cross- ments were plotted against the cycle number for data reactions) and with two more clinical strains. Nonspecific analysis. Background fluorescence was corrected by amplification products were analyzed by cloning and se- manually setting the baseline cycles from 5 to 16. The quence analysis (ABI3730, Sanger sequencing, Bigdye log-linear portions of the amplification plots were used to v3.1; Applied Biosystems, Halle, Belgium) to retrieve the determine a fractional
Recommended publications
  • Mycoplasma Pirum Sp. Nov. a Terminal Structured Mollicute from Cell Cultures
    INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF SYSTEMATICBACTERIOLOGY, July 1985, p. 285-291 Vol. 35, No. 3 0020-7713/85/030285-07$02.00/0 Copyright 0 1985, International Union of Microbiological Societies Mycoplasma pirum sp. nov. a Terminal Structured Mollicute from Cell Cultures RICHARD A. DEL GIUDICE,'" JOSEPH G. TULLY,* DAVID L. ROSE,2 AND ROGER M. COLE3? Diagnostic Microbiology Laboratory, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research Facility,' and Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,2 Frederick, Maryland 21 701 and Laboratory of Streptococcal Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland 202053 More than 200 mycoplasma isolates recovered from a variety of contaminated cell cultures from 1968 to the present were found to belong to a distinct serological group (serogroup 38). An analysis of representative strains of this collection showed that they possessed all of the characteristics of organisms belonging to the genus Mycoplasma. These organisms were capable of fermenting glucose and of hydrolyzing arginine, and they required cholesterol or serum for growth. These organisms were unusual in that they possessed an organized terminal structure or tip, a morphological structure which has been found in at least six other species in the genus Mycoplasma. These organisms were also serologically distinct from all previously established species in the genus Mycoplasma and the genus Acholeplasma. On the basis of these findings and other morphological, biological, and serological characteristics of the strains recovered, we propose that mycoplasmas with these properties belong to a new species, Mycoplasma pirum sp. nov. Strain HRC 70-159 (= ATCC 25960) is the type strain of this species.
    [Show full text]
  • Invivogen Insight Newsletter: Mycoplasma
    November/December 2005 An Insightful Look At InvivoGen’s Innovative Products Mycoplasma contamination remains a significant problem to Mycoplasma: The Insidious Invader of Cell Cultures the culture of mammalian cells. Mycoplasmas are the smallest and simplest and enzymatic procedures. However, none of these self-replicating organisms. Due to their seriously methods is 100% reliable. Direct growth methods are The detection of mycoplasma degraded genome they cannot perform many relatively sensitive to most species but the overall contamination is an important metabolic functions, such as cell wall production or procedure is lengthy (3 weeks), costly and less synthesis of nucleotides and amino acids. sensitive to noncultivable species. The PCR method, part of mycoplasma control and Mycoplasmas are strictly parasites. They parasitize a although rather fast and inexpensive, is limited by its should be an established wide range of organisms including humans, animals, sensitivity and the risk of positive and false negative method in every cell culture insects, and plants. results. Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma are Mollicutes, that InvivoGen has developed a new mycoplasma detection laboratory. InvivoGen is pleased comprise together more than 100 recognized species. method that promises to resolve these issues. This to introduce PlasmoTest™, a Among them, about 20 species have been described as method is based on the detection of mycoplasmas by contaminants of eukaryotic cell cultures. However engineered cells that express Toll-like receptor 2, a Mycoplasma detection kit based 5 species (Mycoplasma (M.) arginini, M. fermentans, pathogen recognition receptor that detects mycoplasmas. on a brand new technology. M. orale, M. hyorhinis and Acholeplasma laidlawii) PlasmoTest™, InvivoGen’s new mycoplasma detection are isolated in 90-95% of contaminated cell cultures1.
    [Show full text]
  • APUTS) Reporting Terminology and Codes Microbiology (V1.0
    AUSTRALIAN PATHOLOGY UNITS AND TERMINOLOGY (APUTS) Reporting Terminology and Codes Microbiology (v1.0) 1 12/02/2013 APUTS Report Information Model - Urine Microbiology Page 1 of 1 Specimen Type Specimen Macro Time Glucose Bilirubin Ketones Specific Gravity pH Chemistry Protein Urobilinogen Nitrites Haemoglobin Leucocyte Esterases White blood cell count Red blood cells Cells Epithelial cells Bacteria Microscopy Parasites Microorganisms Yeasts Casts Crystals Other elements Antibacterial Activity No growth Mixed growth Urine MCS No significant growth Klebsiella sp. Bacteria ESBL Klebsiella pneumoniae Identification Virus Fungi Growth of >10^8 org/L 10^7 to 10^8 organism/L of mixed Range or number Colony Count growth of 3 organisms 19090-0 Culture Organism 1 630-4 LOINC >10^8 organisms/L LOINC Significant growth e.g. Ampicillin 18864-9 LOINC Antibiotics Susceptibility Method Released/suppressed None Organism 2 Organism 3 Organism 4 None Consistent with UTI Probable contamination Growth unlikely to be significant Comment Please submit a repeat specimen for testing if clinically indicated Catheter comments Sterile pyuria Notification to infection control and public health departments PUTS Urine Microbiology Information Model v1.mmap - 12/02/2013 - Mindjet 12/02/2013 APUTS Report Terminology and Codes - Microbiology - Urine Page 1 of 3 RCPA Pathology Units and Terminology Standardisation Project - Terminology for Reporting Pathology: Microbiology : Urine Microbiology Report v1 LOINC LOINC LOINC LOINC LOINC LOINC LOINC Urine Microbiology Report
    [Show full text]
  • Moving Beyond Serovars
    ABSTRACT Title of Document: MOLECULAR AND BIOINFORMATICS APPROACHES TO REDEFINE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF UREAPLASMAS: MOVING BEYOND SEROVARS Vanya Paralanov, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Directed By: Prof. Jonathan Dinman, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland College Park Prof. John I. Glass, Synthetic Biology, J. Craig Venter Institute Ureaplasma parvum and Ureaplasma urealyticum are sexually transmitted, opportunistic pathogens of the human urogenital tract. There are 14 known serovars of the two species. For decades, it has been postulated that virulence is related to serotype specificity. Understanding of the role of ureaplasmas in human diseases has been thwarted due to two major barriers: (1) lack of suitable diagnostic tests and (2) lack of genetic manipulation tools for the creation of mutants to study the role of potential pathogenicity factors. To address the first barrier we developed real-time quantitative PCRs (RT-qPCR) for the reliable differentiation of the two species and 14 serovars. We typed 1,061 ureaplasma clinical isolates and observed about 40% of isolates to be genetic mosaics, arising from the recombination of multiple serovars. Furthermore, comparative genome analysis of the 14 serovars and 5 clinical isolates showed that the mba gene, used for serotyping ureaplasmas was part of a large, phase variable gene system, and some serovars shown to express different MBA proteins also encode mba genes associated with other serovars. Together these data suggests that differential pathogenicity and clinical outcome of an ureaplasmal infection is most likely due to the presence or absence of potential pathogenicity factors in individual ureaplasma clinical isolates and/or patient to patient differences in terms of autoimmunity and microbiome.
    [Show full text]
  • Rapid, Sensitive PCR-Based Detection of Mycoplasmas In
    APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Mar. 1994, p. 953-959 Vol. 60, No. 3 0099-2240/94/$04.00 +0 Copyright © 1994, American Society for Microbiology Rapid, Sensitive PCR-Based Detection of Mycoplasmas in Simulated Samples of Animal Sera OLIVIER DUSSURGET AND DAISY ROULLAND-DUSSOIX* Laboratoire des Mycoplasnes, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, Franice Received 2 August 1993/Accepted 17 December 1993 A fast and simple method to detect mycoplasmal contamination in simulated samples of animal sera by using a PCR was developed. The following five mycoplasma species that are major cell culture contaminants belonging to the class Mollicutes were investigated: Mycoplasma arginini, Acholeplasma laidlawii, Mycoplasma hyorhinis, Mycoplasma orale, and Mycoplasma fermentans. After a concentration step involving seeded sera, genus-specific primers were used to amplify a 717-bp DNA fragment within the 16S rRNA gene of mycoplasmas. In a second step, the universal PCR was followed by amplification of variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene by using species-specific primers, which allowed identification of contaminant mycoplasmas. With this method, 10 fg of purified DNA and 1 to 10 color-changing units of mycoplasmas could be detected. Since the sensitivity of the assay was increased 10-fold when the amplification products were hybridized with an internal mycoplasma-specific 32P-labelled oligonucleotide probe, a detection limit of 1 to 10 genome copies per PCR sample was obtained. This highly sensitive, specific, and simple assay may be a useful alternative to methods currently used to detect mycoplasmas in animal sera. Mycoplasmas (the trivial name for microorganisms belong- Like most cell cultures infected by mycoplasmas, serum infec- ing to the class Molliclutes) are the smallest self-replicating tions are rarely detected by visual inspection or light micros- bacteria.
    [Show full text]
  • Highly Conserved Gene and Its Use to Generate Species-Specific, Genus-Specific, Family- Specific, Group-Specific and Universal Nucleic Acid Probes for Microorganisms
    (19) TZZ ¥ T (11) EP 2 322 667 A2 (12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION (43) Date of publication: (51) Int Cl.: 18.05.2011 Bulletin 2011/20 C12Q 1/68 (2006.01) C07K 14/00 (2006.01) C12N 15/63 (2006.01) C12N 5/10 (2006.01) (21) Application number: 10181529.8 (22) Date of filing: 28.09.2000 (84) Designated Contracting States: • Ouellette, Marc AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU Sillery, Québec G1S 3S1 (CA) MC NL PT SE • Picard, François J. Cap-Rouge, Québec G1Y 1A1 (CA) (30) Priority: 28.09.1999 CA 2283458 • Roy, Paul H. 19.05.2000 CA 2307010 Loretteville, Québec G2A 2X8 (CA) (62) Document number(s) of the earlier application(s) in (74) Representative: Pohlman, Sandra M. accordance with Art. 76 EPC: df-mp 00965686.9 / 1 246 935 Fünf Höfe Theatinerstrasse 16 (71) Applicant: Geneohm Sciences Canada, Inc. 80333 München (DE) Quebec City, Québec G1V 2K8 (CA) Remarks: (72) Inventors: •ThecompletedocumentincludingReferenceTables • Bergeron, Michel G. and the Sequence Listing can be downloaded from Québec, Québec G2K 1T8 (CA) the EPO website • Boissinot, Maurice •Claims filed after the date of filing of the application St-Augustin-de-Desmaures / after the date of receipt of the divisional application Québec G3A 2N2 (CA) (Rule 68(4) EPC). • Huletsky, Ann •This application was filed on 29-09-2009 as a Sillery, Québec G1S 4J3 (CA) divisional application to the application mentioned • Ménard, Christian under INID code 62. St-Lambert-de-Lévis Québec G0S 2W0 (CA) (54) Highly conserved gene and its use to generate species-specific, genus-specific, family- specific, group-specific and universal nucleic acid probes for microorganisms.
    [Show full text]
  • New Concepts of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Infections in Children
    Pediatric Pulmonology 36:267–278 (2003) New Concepts of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infections in Children Ken B. Waites, MD* INTRODUCTION trilayered cell membrane and do not possess a cell wall. The permanent lack of a cell-wall barrier makes the The year 2002 marked the fortieth anniversary of the mycoplasmas unique among prokaryotes, renders them first published report describing the isolation and char- insensitive to the activity of beta-lactam antimicrobials, acterization of Mycoplasma pneumoniae as the etiologic prevents them from staining by Gram stain, makes them agent of primary atypical pneumonia by Chanock et al.1 very susceptible to drying, and influences their pleo- Lack of understanding regarding the basic biology of morphic appearance. The extremely small genome and mycoplasmas and the inability to readily detect them in limited biosynthetic capabilities explain their parasitic or persons with respiratory disease has led to many mis- saprophytic existence and fastidious growth requirements. understandings about their role as human pathogens. Attachment of MP to host cells in the respiratory tract Formerly, infections by Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) following inhalation of infectious organisms is a pre- were considered to occur mainly in children, adolescents, requisite for colonization and infection.2 Cytadherence, and young adults, and to be infrequent, confined to the mediated by the P1 adhesin protein and other accessory respiratory tract, and largely self-limiting. Outcome data proteins, protects the mycoplasma from removal by the from children and adults with community-acquired pne- mucociliary clearance mechanism. Cytadherence is fol- umonias (CAP) proven to be due to MP provided evidence lowed by induction of ciliostasis, exfoliation of the that it is time to change these misconceived notions.
    [Show full text]
  • Immunology and Microbiology
    WOMI2.tpgs 5/8/03 6:01 PM Page 1 AND IMMUNOLOGY MICROBIOLOGY WORLD of WOMI2.tpgs 5/8/03 6:01 PM Page 3 AND IMMUNOLOGY MICROBIOLOGY WORLD of Brigham Narins, Editor Volume 2 M-Z General Index womi_M 5/7/03 7:52 AM Page 359 M • against antigens) in the treatment of the disease. MacLeod also MMacLeod, ColinAC Munro LEOD, COLIN MUNRO (1909-1972) studied the use of sulfa drugs, synthetic substances that coun- Canadian-born American microbiologist teract bacteria, in treating pneumonia, as well as how Colin Munro MacLeod is recognized as one of the founders of Pneumococci develop a resistance to sulfa drugs. He also molecular biology for his research concerning the role of worked on a mysterious substance then known as “C-reactive deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in bacteria. Along with his col- protein,” which appeared in the blood of patients with acute leagues Oswald Avery and Maclyn McCarty, MacLeod con- infections. ducted experiments on bacterial transformation which MacLeod’s principal research interest at the Rockefeller indicated that DNA was the active agent in the genetic trans- Institute was the phenomenon known as bacterial transforma- formation of bacterial cells. His earlier research focused on the tion. First discovered by Frederick Griffith in 1928, this was a causes of pneumonia and the development of serums to treat phenomenon in which live bacteria assumed some of the char- it. MacLeod later became chairman of the department of acteristics of dead bacteria. Avery had been fascinated with microbiology at New York University; he also worked with a transformation for many years and believed that the phenom- number of government agencies and served as White House enon had broad implications for the science of biology.
    [Show full text]
  • Isothermal Detection of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Directly from Respiratory Clinical Specimens
    Isothermal Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Directly from Respiratory Clinical Specimens Brianna L. Petrone, Bernard J. Wolff, Alexandra A. DeLaney,* Maureen H. Diaz, Jonas M. Winchell Pneumonia Response and Surveillance Laboratory, Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) across patient populations of all ages. We have developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay that enables rapid, low-cost detection of M. pneu- Downloaded from moniae from nucleic acid extracts and directly from various respiratory specimen types. The assay implements calcein to facili- tate simple visual readout of positive results in approximately 1 h, making it ideal for use in primary care facilities and resource- poor settings. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was determined to be 100 fg by testing serial dilutions of target DNA ranging from 1 ng to 1 fg per reaction, and no cross-reactivity was observed against 17 other Mycoplasma species, 27 common respiratory -and unextracted re (252 ؍ agents, or human DNA. We demonstrated the utility of this assay by testing nucleic acid extracts (n collected during M. pneumoniae outbreaks and sporadic cases occurring in the United States from (72 ؍ spiratory specimens (n February 2010 to January 2014. The sensitivity of the LAMP assay was 88.5% tested on extracted nucleic acid and 82.1% evalu- ated on unextracted clinical specimens compared to a validated real-time PCR test. Further optimization and improvements to http://jcm.asm.org/ this method may lead to the availability of a rapid, cost-efficient laboratory test for M.
    [Show full text]
  • Detection of Mycoplasma in Cell Cultures
    PROTOCOL Detection of Mycoplasma in cell cultures Lesley Young1, Julia Sung1, Glyn Stacey1 & John R Masters2 1UK Stem Cell Bank, National Institute for Biological Standards, Hertfordshire, UK. 2Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK. Correspondence should be addressed to J.R.M. ([email protected]). Published online 22 April 2010; doi:10.1038/nprot.2010.43 Mycoplasma is a prokaryotic organism that is a frequent and occult contaminant of cell cultures. This organism can modify many aspects of cell physiology, rendering experiments that are conducted with contaminated cells worthless. Because of their small size, Mycoplasmas can pass through filters used to prevent bacterial and fungal contamination and potentially spread to all the cultures in a laboratory. It is essential that all new cell cultures entering a laboratory and all cell banks are tested for the presence of Mycoplasma. It is recommended that two techniques be used, selected from a PCR-based method, indirect staining and an agar otocols and broth culture. This protocol describes these three tests for detecting Mycoplasma, which take from 1 d to 3–4 weeks, and such tests should be an obligatory component of quality control in every tissue culture laboratory. naturepr / m o INTRODUCTION c . e Mycoplasma contamination of cell cultures is widespread, ranging recommendation is to use two assays from isolation in broth/agar r u 1 5 t from 5 to 35% in published reports . The use of contaminated cells culture, indirect staining and a PCR­based technique . a n . compromises almost all aspects of cell physiology, and consequently There are some basic principles for Mycoplasma detection.
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence for Several Higher Order Structural Elements in Ribosomal RNA (16S Ribosomal RNA/Tertiary Structure/Comparative Analysis/Mycoplasma/Mitochondria) C
    Proc. Nadl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 86, pp. 3119-3122, May 1989 Biochemistry Evidence for several higher order structural elements in ribosomal RNA (16S ribosomal RNA/tertiary structure/comparative analysis/mycoplasma/mitochondria) C. R. WOESE* AND R. R. GUTELL*t *Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, 131 Burrill Hall, Urbana, IL 61801; and tCangene Corp., 3403 American Drive, Mississauga, ON L4V 1T4, Canada Contributed by C. R. Woese, January 30, 1989 ABSTRACT Comparative analysis of small subunit ribo- involving a single nucleotide in the vicinity of position 130 somal RNA sequences suggests the existence of two new higher and the helix in the 180-195 region. order interactions: (i) a double-helical structure involving positions 505-507 and 524-526 (Eseherichia coli numbering) The (505-507) (524-526) Interaction and (ii) an interaction between the region of position 130 and the helix located approximately between positions 180 and 195. In the current model of 16S rRNA structure, there exist only In the first of these, one of the strands of the helix exists in the six contiguous stretches of 10 or more nucleotides in which bulge loop, and the other strand exists in the terminal loop of none of the bases are involved in a recognized secondary or a previously recognized compound helix involving positions "tertiary" structural interaction (4). All are regions in which 500-545. Therefore, the new structure formally represents a composition is highly conserved. The longest of these pseudoknot. In the second, the insertion/deletion of a nucleo- "unpaired" stretches occurs in the terminal loop of the helix tide in the vicinity of position 130 correlates with the length of shown in Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Framework for the Development Of
    Standards for Pathology Informatics in Australia (SPIA) Reporting Terminology and Codes Microbiology (v3.0) Superseding and incorporating the Australian Pathology Units and Terminology Standards and Guidelines (APUTS) ISBN: Pending State Health Publication Number (SHPN): Pending Online copyright © RCPA 2017 This work (Standards and Guidelines) is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce the Standards and Guidelines for your personal, non- commercial use or use within your organisation subject to the following terms and conditions: 1. The Standards and Guidelines may not be copied, reproduced, communicated or displayed, in whole or in part, for profit or commercial gain. 2. Any copy, reproduction or communication must include this RCPA copyright notice in full. 3. No changes may be made to the wording of the Standards and Guidelines including commentary, tables or diagrams. Excerpts from the Standards and Guidelines may be used. References and acknowledgments must be maintained in any reproduction or copy in full or part of the Standards and Guidelines. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 or as set out above, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to RCPA, 207 Albion St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia. This material contains content from LOINC® (http://loinc.org). The LOINC table, LOINC codes, LOINC panels and forms file, LOINC linguistic variants file, LOINC/RSNA Radiology Playbook, and LOINC/IEEE Medical Device Code Mapping Table are copyright © 1995-2016, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) Committee and is available at no cost under the license at http://loinc.org/terms-of-use.” This material includes SNOMED Clinical Terms® (SNOMED CT®) which is used by permission of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO®).
    [Show full text]