Improved Protocol for Rapid Identification of Certain Spa Types Using High Resolution Melting Curve Analysis

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most significant pathogens associated with health care. For efficient surveillance, control and outbreak investigation, S. aureus typing is essential. A high resolution melting curve analysis was developed and evaluated for rapid identification of the most frequent spa types found in an Austrian hospital consortium covering 2,435 beds. Among 557 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates 38 different spa types were identified by sequence analysis of the hypervariable region X of the protein A gene (spa). Identification of spa types through their characteristic high resolution melting curve profiles was considerably improved by double spiking with genomic DNA from spa type t030 and spa type t003 and allowed unambiguous and fast identification of the ten most frequent spa types t001 (58%), t003 (12%), t190 (9%), t041 (5%), t022 (2%), t032 (2%), t008 (2%), t002 (1%), t5712 (1%) and t2203 (1%), representing 93% of all isolates within this hospital consortium. The performance of the assay was evaluated by testing samples with unknown spa types from the daily routine and by testing three different high resolution melting curve analysis real-time PCR instruments. The ten most frequent spa types were identified from all samples and on all instruments with 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Compared to classical spa typing by sequence analysis, this gene scanning assay is faster, cheaper and can be performed in a single closed tube assay format. Therefore it is an optimal screening tool to detect the most frequent endemic spa types and to exclude non-endemic spa types within a hospital.     

Application of Agglutinins for the Rapid and Accurate Identification of Medically Important Candida Species

Agglutinins have been prepared against the medically important Candida species. Crude antisera to the various species demonstrated intense cross-reactions with heterologous yeastlike fungi as well as with many true yeasts. However, carefully monitored adsorptions of selected antisera allowed the production of six factor sera that proved useful in a slide agglutination test. These six sera permitted the rapid and specific identification of C. guilliermondii, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, and C. pseudotropicalis. They also allowed the delineation of two groups: (i) C. albicans (type A)-C. tropicalis and (ii) C. albicans (type B)-C. stellatoidea. C. albicans type A could be readily distinguished from C. tropicalis by its ability to form germ tubes in serum. C. stellatoidea could be distinguished from C. albicans type B by its predominantly filamentous growth on a nutritionally deficient medium. The medically important Candida species could be identified within 24 hr by the combined use of serological and morphological procedures.     

Rapid Detection and Identification of Human Hookworm Infections through High Resolution Melting (HRM) Analysis

Background

Hookworm infections are still endemic in low and middle income tropical countries with greater impact on the socioeconomic and public health of the bottom billion of the world''s poorest people. In this study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with high resolution melting-curve (HRM) analysis was evaluated for an accurate, rapid and sensitive tool for species identification focusing on the five human hookworm species.

Methods

Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis targeting the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA as the genetic marker was used to identify and distinguish hookworm species in human samples. Unique and distinct characteristics of HRM patterns were produced for each of the five hookworm species. The melting curves were characterized by peaks of 79.24±0.05°C and 83.00±0.04°C for Necator americanus, 79.12±0.10°C for Ancylostoma duodenale, 79.40±0.10°C for Ancylostoma ceylanicum, 79.63±0.05°C for Ancylostoma caninum and 79.70±0.14°C for Ancylostoma braziliense. An evaluation of the method''s sensitivity and specificity revealed that this assay was able to detect as low as 0.01 ng/µl hookworm DNA and amplification was only recorded for hookworm positive samples.

Conclusion

The HRM assay developed in this study is a rapid and straightforward method for the diagnosis, identification and discrimination of five human hookworms. This assay is simple compared to other probe-based genotyping methods as it does not require multiplexing, DNA sequencing or post-PCR processing. Therefore, this method offers a new alternative for rapid detection of human hookworm species.     

高分辨率熔解曲线分析技术检测结核分枝杆菌的耐药性

目的:探讨高分辨率熔解曲线分析(High resolution melting,HRM)技术检测结核分枝杆菌耐药突变位点的可行性。方法:对218株结核分枝杆菌进行利福平(RFP)和异烟肼(INH)的药物敏感性测定,并进行耐药基因位点的PCR扩增和测序,同时采用HRM方法检测RFP和INH耐药基因位点情况,分析HRM的敏感性和特异性。结果:218株结核分枝杆菌药敏试验结果显示,有106株(48.6%)对RFP耐药,100株(45.9%)对INH耐药,81株(37.4%)对RFP和INH均耐药。测序发现,101株(46.3%)存在RFP耐药基因的突变,107株(49.1%)存在INH耐药基因的突变。HRM检测结果显示,100株(45.9%)存在RFP耐药基因的突变,103株(47.2%)存在INH耐药基因的突变。分别以药敏试验和测序结果为标准,HRM检测RFP耐药的敏感性为94.3%(100/106)和99.0%(100/101);特异性为97.3%(109/112)和100%(117/117);INH耐药的敏感性为97.0%(97/100)和98.1%(103/105);特异性为97.3%(109/112)和100%(113/113)。结论:HRM快速检测结核分枝杆菌耐药具有较高的特异性和灵敏度,能够满足临床需求。     

Rapid identification of chloroplast haplotypes using High Resolution Melting analysis

We have evaluated High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis as a method for one‐step haplotype identification in phylogeographic analysis. Using two adjoined internal amplicons (c. 360 and 390 bp) at the chloroplast rps16 intron (c. 750 bp) we applied HRM to identify haplotypes in 21 populations of two European arctic‐alpine herb species Arenaria ciliata and Arenaria norvegica (Caryophyllaceae). From 446 accessions studied, 20 composite rps16 haplotypes were identified by the melting‐curve protocol, 18 of which could be identified uniquely. In a comparative sensitivity analysis with in silico PCR‐RFLP, only seven of these 20 haplotypes could be identified uniquely. Observed in vitro experimental HRM profiles were corroborated by in silico HRM analysis generated on uMelt^SM. In silico mutation analysis carried out on a 360 bp wild‐type rps16I amplicon determined that the expected rate of missed single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) detection in vitro was similar to existing evaluations of HRM sensitivity, with transversion SNPs being more likely to go undetected compared to transition SNPs. In vitro HRM successfully discriminated between all amplicon templates differing by two or more base changes (352 cases) and between 11 pairs of amplicons where the only difference was a single transition or transversion SNP. Only one pairwise comparison yielded no discernable HRM curve difference between haplotypes, and these samples differed by one transversion (C/G) SNP. HRM analysis represents an untapped resource in phylogeographic analysis, and with appropriate primer design any polymorphic locus is potentially amenable to this single‐reaction method for haplotype identification.     

Efficient Method of Genotyping Ob/Ob Mice Using High Resolution Melting Analysis

Objective

Direct health care costs of obesity continue to grow throughout the world and research on obesity disease models are on the rise. The ob/ob mouse is a well-characterized model of obesity and associated risk factors. Successful breeding and backcrossing onto different backgrounds are essential to create knockout models. Ob/ob mice are sterile and heterozygotes must be identified by genotyping to maintain breeding colonies. Several methods are employed to detect the ob mutant allele, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Gel based methods are time consuming and inconsistent, and non-gel based assays rely upon expensive and complex reagents or instruments. A fast, high-throughput, cost effective, and consistent method to identify Lep^ob mutation is much needed.

Design and Methods

Primers to produce an amplicon for High Resolution Melting Analysis (HRM) of the Lep^ob SNP were designed and validated.

Results

Fluorescence normalized high resolution melting curve plots delineated ob/+, ob/ob, and WT genotypes. Genotypes were also confirmed phenotypically.

Conclusions

HRM of the Lep^ob SNP allows closed-tube identification of the Lep^ob mutation using a real-time PCR machine now common to most labs/departments. Advantages of this method include assay sensitivity/accuracy, low cost dyes, less optimization, and cost effectiveness as compared to other genotyping techniques.     

High Resolution Melting Analysis: A Rapid and Accurate Method to Detect CALR Mutations

Background

The recent discovery of CALR mutations in essential thrombocythemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) patients without JAK2/MPL mutations has emerged as a relevant finding for the molecular diagnosis of these myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). We tested the feasibility of high-resolution melting (HRM) as a screening method for rapid detection of CALR mutations.

Methods

CALR was studied in wild-type JAK2/MPL patients including 34 ET, 21 persistent thrombocytosis suggestive of MPN and 98 suspected secondary thrombocytosis. CALR mutation analysis was performed through HRM and Sanger sequencing. We compared clinical features of CALR-mutated versus 45 JAK2/MPL-mutated subjects in ET.

Results

Nineteen samples showed distinct HRM patterns from wild-type. Of them, 18 were mutations and one a polymorphism as confirmed by direct sequencing. CALR mutations were present in 44% of ET (15/34), 14% of persistent thrombocytosis suggestive of MPN (3/21) and none of the secondary thrombocytosis (0/98). Of the 18 mutants, 9 were 52 bp deletions, 8 were 5 bp insertions and other was a complex mutation with insertion/deletion. No mutations were found after sequencing analysis of 45 samples displaying wild-type HRM curves. HRM technique was reproducible, no false positive or negative were detected and the limit of detection was of 3%.

Conclusions

This study establishes a sensitive, reliable and rapid HRM method to screen for the presence of CALR mutations.     

高分辨率熔解曲线分析技术及其应用进展

高分辨率熔解曲线分析(High Resolution Melting,HRM)是结合饱和荧光染料、未标记探针和实时荧光定量PCR的一种新的检测基因突变与基因分型的分子诊断技术,具有高通量、低成本、简单快捷、结果准确、灵敏度和特异性高和真正闭管操作等优点。本文就高分辨率熔解曲线分析的临床应用和研究进展进行综述。     

High Resolution Melting Analysis as a Rapid and Highly Sensitive Method for Cichorium Plasmotype Characterization

Somatic hybridization in Cichorium species has already been extensively investigated. Hybrid or cybrid characterization requires an effective plasmotype screening method. We evaluated high resolution melting (HRM) analysis for the detection of specific mitochondrial (mt) and chloroplast (cp) markers to distinguish two industrial chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) plasmotypes from five wild type chicory (C. intybus) and two endive (C. endivia) plasmotypes. Three mt (coxII-2, cob-1, and cob-2) and three cp HRM markers (trnL-trnF, trnL-trnF-2, and ndhF-1) were successfully developed. Two markers (coxII-2 and trnL-trnF) were additionally able to discriminate heterozygous plasmotypes containing at least 25 % of one parental plasmotype. Moreover, the technique was successfully used to characterize the cytoplasms of 50 simple sequence repeats (SSR) confirmed somatic hybrids of C. intybus var. sativum ‘VL52’ and C. endivia var. crispum ‘Wallone Despa’. HRM enables a rapid (less than 2 h) and efficient high-throughput scanning of multiple fragments due to the 384-well plates and is cost efficient because of its small reaction volume of 10 μl. This is the first report on the use of HRM analysis on Cichorium species. The technique is a fast and simple alternative for laborious and costly sequencing in plasmotyping regenerants obtained after somatic fusion.     

Rapid Detection and Identification of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Pathogens in Fish by Using High-Resolution Melting Analysis

Mycobacterial infections in fish are commonly referred to as piscine mycobacteriosis, irrespectively of the specific identity of the causal organism. They usually cause a chronic disease and sometimes may result in high mortalities and severe economic losses. Nearly 20 species of Mycobacterium have been reported to infect fish. Among them, Mycobacterium marinum, M. fortuitum, and M. chelonae are generally considered the major agents responsible for fish mycobacteriosis. As no quick and inexpensive diagnostic test exists, we tested the potential of high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) to rapidly identify and differentiate several Mycobacterium species involved in fish infections. By analyzing both the melting temperature and melting profile of the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), we were able to discriminate 12 different species simultaneously. Sensitivity tests conducted on purified M. marinum and M. fortuitum DNA revealed a limit of detection of 10 genome equivalents per reaction. The primers used in this procedure did not lead to any amplification signal with 16 control non-Mycobacterium species, thereby demonstrating their specificity for the genus Mycobacterium.     

Identification of BRCA1/2 Founder Mutations in Southern Chinese Breast Cancer Patients Using Gene Sequencing and High Resolution DNA Melting Analysis

Background

Ethnic variations in breast cancer epidemiology and genetics have necessitated investigation of the spectra of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in different populations. Knowledge of BRCA mutations in Chinese populations is still largely unknown. We conducted a multi-center study to characterize the spectra of BRCA mutations in Chinese breast and ovarian cancer patients from Southern China.

Methodology/Principal Findings

A total of 651 clinically high-risk breast and/or ovarian cancer patients were recruited from the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry from 2007 to 2011. Comprehensive BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation screening was performed using bi-directional sequencing of all coding exons of BRCA1 and BRCA2. Sequencing results were confirmed by in-house developed full high resolution DNA melting (HRM) analysis. Among the 451 probands analyzed, 69 (15.3%) deleterious BRCA mutations were identified, comprising 29 in BRCA1 and 40 in BRCA2. The four recurrent BRCA1 mutations (c.470_471delCT, c.3342_3345delAGAA, c.5406+1_5406+3delGTA and c.981_982delAT) accounted for 34.5% (10/29) of all BRCA1 mutations in this cohort. The four recurrent BRCA2 mutations (c.2808_2811delACAA, c.3109C>T, c.7436_7805del370 and c.9097_9098insA) accounted for 40% (16/40) of all BRCA2 mutations. Haplotype analysis was performed to confirm 1 BRCA1 and 3 BRCA2 mutations are putative founder mutations. Rapid HRM mutation screening for a panel of the founder mutations were developed and validated.

Conclusion

In this study, our findings suggest that BRCA mutations account for a substantial proportion of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer in Southern Chinese population. Knowing the spectrum and frequency of the founder mutations in this population will assist in the development of a cost-effective rapid screening assay, which in turn facilitates genetic counseling and testing for the purpose of cancer risk assessment.     

高分辨率熔解曲线及其应用

饱和荧光染料、未标记探针与实时荧光PCR结合产生的高分辨率熔解曲线(HRM)是一种新的实时定量技术,在检测速度、灵敏度和准确性上具有突出的优点,近几年来在突变扫描、DNA甲基化和基因分型等医学检测中发展迅速.就HRM的原理、应用以及在HRM基础上发展起来的未标记探针(unlabled probe)HMR、弹回探针(snap probe)HMR技术作一介绍.     

High-Throughput Gender Identification of Penguin Species Using Melting Curve Analysis

Most species of penguins are sexual monomorphic and therefore it is difficult to visually identify their genders for monitoring population stability in terms of sex ratio analysis. In this study, we evaluated the suitability using melting curve analysis (MCA) for high-throughput gender identification of penguins. Preliminary test indicated that the Griffiths's P2/P8 primers were not suitable for MCA analysis. Based on sequence alignment of Chromo-Helicase-DNA binding protein (CHD)-W and CHD-Z genes from four species of penguins (Pygoscelis papua, Aptenodytes patagonicus, Spheniscus magellanicus, and Eudyptes chrysocome), we redesigned forward primers for the CHD-W/CHD-Z-common region (PGU-ZW2) and the CHD-W-specific region (PGU-W2) to be used in combination with the reverse Griffiths's P2 primer. When tested with P. papua samples, PCR using P2/PGU-ZW2 and P2/PGU-W2 primer sets generated two amplicons of 148- and 356-bp, respectively, which were easily resolved in 1.5% agarose gels. MCA analysis indicated the melting temperature (Tm) values for P2/PGU-ZW2 and P2/PGU-W2 amplicons of P. papua samples were 79.75°C–80.5°C and 81.0°C–81.5°C, respectively. Females displayed both ZW-common and W-specific Tm peaks, whereas male was positive only for ZW-common peak. Taken together, our redesigned primers coupled with MCA analysis allows precise high throughput gender identification for P. papua, and potentially for other penguin species such as A. patagonicus, S. magellanicus, and E. chrysocome as well.     

High-Throughput Genome Editing and Phenotyping Facilitated by High Resolution Melting Curve Analysis

With the goal to generate and characterize the phenotypes of null alleles in all genes within an organism and the recent advances in custom nucleases, genome editing limitations have moved from mutation generation to mutation detection. We previously demonstrated that High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis is a rapid and efficient means of genotyping known zebrafish mutants. Here we establish optimized conditions for HRM based detection of novel mutant alleles. Using these conditions, we demonstrate that HRM is highly efficient at mutation detection across multiple genome editing platforms (ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPRs); we observed nuclease generated HRM positive targeting in 1 of 6 (16%) open pool derived ZFNs, 14 of 23 (60%) TALENs, and 58 of 77 (75%) CRISPR nucleases. Successful targeting, based on HRM of G0 embryos correlates well with successful germline transmission (46 of 47 nucleases); yet, surprisingly mutations in the somatic tail DNA weakly correlate with mutations in the germline F1 progeny DNA. This suggests that analysis of G0 tail DNA is a good indicator of the efficiency of the nuclease, but not necessarily a good indicator of germline alleles that will be present in the F1s. However, we demonstrate that small amplicon HRM curve profiles of F1 progeny DNA can be used to differentiate between specific mutant alleles, facilitating rare allele identification and isolation; and that HRM is a powerful technique for screening possible off-target mutations that may be generated by the nucleases. Our data suggest that micro-homology based alternative NHEJ repair is primarily utilized in the generation of CRISPR mutant alleles and allows us to predict likelihood of generating a null allele. Lastly, we demonstrate that HRM can be used to quickly distinguish genotype-phenotype correlations within F1 embryos derived from G0 intercrosses. Together these data indicate that custom nucleases, in conjunction with the ease and speed of HRM, will facilitate future high-throughput mutation generation and analysis needed to establish mutants in all genes of an organism.     

Rapid Detection and Simultaneous Genotyping of Cronobacter spp. (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii) in Powdered Infant Formula Using Real-time PCR and High Resolution Melting (HRM) Analysis

Cronobacter spp. is an emerging pathogen that causes meningitis, sepsis, bacteremia, and necrotizing enterocolitis in neonates and children. The present study developed an assay integrating real-time PCR and high resolution melting (HRM) analysis targeting the OmpA gene for the specific detection and rapid identification of Cronobacter spp. (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii) in powdered infant formula. Eleven Cronobacter field isolates and 25 reference strains were examined using one pair of primers, having the accuracy of 100% in reference to conventional methods. The assay was proved to be highly sensitive with a detection limit of 10² CFU/ml without pre-enrichment, and highly concordant (100%) when compared with ISO-IDF 22964 in 89 actual samples. The method performed for Cronobacter spp. detection was less than 24 h, drastically shortened, compared to several days using standard culturing method, it is probe-free and reduces a risk of PCR carryover. Moreover, all Cronobacter strains examined in this study were genotyped into two species according to their HRM profiles. The established method should provide a molecular tool for direct detection and simultaneous genotyping of Cronobacter spp. in powdered infant formula.     

Rapid Identification of Clinical Yeast Isolates by Mass Spectrometry

Historically, yeasts and molds have been identified by their microscopy and macroscopy appearance, detection of specific antigens and metabolites, the results of biochemical testing, and the presence of species-specific gene sequences. These methods are either nonspecific or, in the case of gene sequencing, technically demanding, time-consuming, and expensive. Recent studies have demonstrated that matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) is a rapid, simple, inexpensive, and accurate tool for the identification of a wide spectrum of bacteria and fungi. There are also promising reports that this technology can be used for subtyping organisms and for performing antifungal susceptibility tests. This article reviews the applications of MALDI-TOF MS for routine clinical microbiology testing.     

脑胶质瘤IDH1基因突变HRM检测方法的初步建立

在大多数弥漫性人脑胶质瘤中常伴随着异柠檬酸脱氢酶基因(isocitrate dehydrogenase gene)1(IDH1)的突变.有着此突变的胶质瘤患者在临床上有良好的预后效果,因此可以作为胶质瘤患者的分子标记.通过提取石蜡切片中的胶质瘤组织DNA,优化条件以初步建立IDH1基因突变高分辨率熔解曲线分析法(high resolution melting,HRM)检测方法.用HRM对胶质瘤石蜡包埋组织标本中IDH1基因检测突变,并用直接测序法对比,观察反应体系和反应条件的可行性.正交试验结果证明引物最适退火温度为53℃,20μL HRM反应体系中,0.6μmol/L引物,2.5 mmol/L Mg2+,60 ng DNA模板为最佳.HRM IDH1基因突变的结果和直接测序法结果一致,但灵敏度更高.说明此HRM方法简单,特异性强,准确可靠,可为IDH1突变检测的临床应用提供借鉴依据.     

Rapid Bovine and Caprine species Identification in Ruminant Feeds by Duplex Real-Time PCR Melting Curve Analysis Using EvaGreen Fluorescence Dye

A duplex real-time PCR assay with melting curve analysis, using the EvaGreen fluorescence dye, was developed for rapid and reliable identification of bovine and caprine in ruminant feeds. The method merges the use of bovine (Bos taurus) and caprine (Capra hircus) specific primers that amplify small fragments (bovine 96 bp and caprine 142 bp) of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA genes, respectively. DNA was isolated from heat-treated meats (133 °C/3 bar for 20 min) mixtures of bovine and caprine and was used to optimize the assay. Gene products of caprine and bovine produced two distinct melting peaks simultaneously at 82 and 86.8 °C, respectively. Duplex analysis of the reference samples showed that the detection limit of the assay was 0.003 % for bovine and 0.005 % for caprine species. The aim of this study was to develop a duplex real-time PCR assay followed by a melt curve step for sensitive, rapid, specific, and cost-effective detection of bovine and caprine species based on the amplicon melting peak in ruminant feeds to prevent Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.