JCM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 17 June 2009

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J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.00484-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

A simple, accurate serotype-specific PCR assay to differentiate Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 6A, 6B and 6C

Ping Jin, Meng Xiao, Fanrong Kong, Shahin Oftadeh, Fei Zhou, Chunyi Liu, and Gwendolyn L. Gilbert^*

Bao'an Maternity & Child Health Hospital, Shenzhen, P. R. China; Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (CIDM), Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR), Westmead, New South Wales, Australia; Life Science College, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: l.gilbert{at}usyd.edu.au.

In this study, we developed a simple, reliable serotype-specific PCR method to differentiate Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 6A, 6B and 6C. It was more efficient and practical than the current assays being used to identify serotypes 6A, 6B and 6C. Of 120 selected serogroup 6 isolates from invasive (n=101) and noninvasive pneumococcal disease (n=19), most of which were collected after 2003, in New South Wales, 45 had been identified as 6A and 75 as 6B by Quellung reaction. PCR confirmed the results for serotype 6B isolates and identified two different subtypes. Fourteen of 45 isolates, which had been identified as serotype 6A, actually belonged to serotype 6C.