Becton Dickinson and Company Limited

Julie A Dickson

Robert E Pearson

Paul Theodore Hamilton

Wayne F Beyer

Michael C Little

Majid Mehrpouyan

Strand Displacement Amplification has been adapted to reverse transcription amplification of RNA targets. The method of the invention is referred to as reverse transcription SDA (rtSDA) and may be performed as a two-step process or as a one-step process in which cDNA copies of an RNA target sequence are generated and amplified concurrently. In the one-step process, rtSDA reaction conditions are such that a conventional reverse transcriptase and a DNA-dependent polymerase function together in a single reaction to produce cDNA and amplify it.

Strand displacement amplification of RNA targets

Mycobacteriophage DS6A has been characterized and found to specifically infect all species of the TB complex, without any detectable infection of mycobacteria species other than those of the TB complex. DNA sequence analysis revealed several potential open reading frames, including one encoding a protein analogous to gp37 of mycobacteriophage L5 and a second encoding a protein with significant homology to the S. coelicolor DNA polymerase .beta. subunit. Based on the DNA sequence analysis, cloning sites can be identified for insertion of reporter genes, making DS6A useful as a reporter phage for specific detection and identification of species of the TB complex.

DNA polymerase III .beta.-subunit from mycobacteriophage DS6A

Mycobacteriophage specific for the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

Mycobacteriophage DSGA specific for the mycobacterium tuberculosis

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Raleigh, NC, United States of America

Julie A Dickson