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J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.00386-08
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Identification and Evaluation of New Target Sequences for the Specific Detection of Bordetella Pertussis by Real-time PCR

Microbial Diseases Laboratory, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA 94804; Alameda County Public Health Department Laboratory, Oakland, CA 94607; Yolo County Health Department Laboratory, Woodland, CA 95695

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: Will.Probert{at}cdph.ca.gov.

	Abstract

Comparative analysis of the Bordetella pertussis, B. bronchiseptica, and B. parapertussis genome assemblies permitted the identification of regions with significant sequence divergence and the design of two new real-time PCR assays, BP283 and BP485, for the specific detection of B. pertussis. The performance characteristics of these two assays were evaluated and compared to culture and an existing real-time PCR assay targeting the repetitive element, IS481. Testing of 324 nasopharyngeal specimens indicated that, compared to culture, the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 96.8% for the BP283 assay and 92.3% and 97.1% for the BP485 assay. Notably, B. holmesii was isolated from two specimens that were positive in the IS481 assay, but were negative in the BP283 and BP485 assays. These two assays represent an improvement in specificity over PCR assays targeting only IS481 and can be duplexed or used in conjunction with existing PCR assays to improve the molecular detection of B. pertussis.