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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2400-2402, Vol. 38, No. 6
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Retrospective Diagnosis of Diphtheria by Detection of the Corynebacterium diphtheriae tox Gene in a Formaldehyde-Fixed Throat Swab Using PCR and Sequencing Analysis

Takako Komiya,1 Naohiro Shibata,1 Masafumi Ito,2 Motohide Takahashi,1 and Yoshichika Arakawa1,*

Department of Bacterial and Blood Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo,1 and Department of Pathology, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya,2 Japan

Received 23 December 1999/Returned for modification 8 February 2000/Accepted 27 March 2000

The tox gene of Corynebacterium diphtheriae was detected in a formaldehyde-fixed throat swab taken from a 68-year-old man who was reported to have died of suffocation due to a pharyngeal tumor. DNA templates prepared from bacterial cells fixed with 10% formaldehyde were subjected to a PCR analysis with tox gene-specific PCR primers. The resultant 112-nucleotide-long PCR product was sequenced using a dye terminator method, and an expected 57-nucleotide-long internal sequence of the tox gene was detected. This method is applicable for retrospective diagnosis in diphtheria cases in which only a formaldehyde-fixed clinical sample is available.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Bacterial and Blood Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 4-7-1 Gakuen, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan. Phone: 81-42-561-0771, ext. 500. Fax: 81-42-561-7173. E-mail: yarakawa{at}nih.go.jp.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2400-2402, Vol. 38, No. 6
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.




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