Simultaneous identification of rifampin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism and sequence analysis of the RNA polymerase gene (rpoB)

Interspecies variations and mutations associated with rifampin resistance in rpoB of Mycobacterium allow for the simultaneous identification of rifampin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria by PCR-SSCP analysis and PCR- sequencing. One hundred and ten strains of rifampin-susceptible M. tuberculosis, 14 strains of rifampin-resistant M. tuberculosis, and four strains of the M. avium complex were easily identified by PCR-SSCP. Of another seven strains, which showed unique SSCP patterns, three were identified as rifampin-resistant M. tuberculosis and four as M. terrae complex by subsequent sequence analysis of their rpoB DNAs (306 bp). These results were concordant with those obtained by susceptibility testing, biochemical identification, and 16S rDNA sequencing.