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Rapid detection of Panton-Valentine leukocidin from clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus strains by real-time PCR.

Deurenberg RH, Vink C, Driessen C, Bes M, London N, Etienne J, Stobberingh EE

Department of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Maastricht, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands.

To allow rapid identification of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-producing Staphylococcus aureus strains, a real-time PCR assay for detection of PVL was developed. This assay is convenient, since it can be applied directly on bacterial suspensions and does not require previous DNA purification. Furthermore, the assay was found to be highly reproducible, robust and specific, since positive results were generated exclusively with PVL-positive S. aureus strains, and neither with PVL-negative strains nor staphylococci other than S. aureus.

Published 3 November 2004 in FEMS Microbiol Lett, 240(2): 225-8.
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