DIAG. OF MYCOBACTERIAL DISEASE/POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION

RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTION IS REQUIRED FOR A MORE EXPEDITIOUS TREATMENT OF THE TWO MAJOR TYPES OF MYCOBACTERIAL DISEASE. CURRENT PROCEDURES FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF MYCOBACTERIAL DISEASE REQUIRE THE BACTERIA TO BE CULTURED FROM BODY FLUIDS, FOLLOWED BY IMMUNOLOGICAL OR BIOCHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIOUS AGENT. DNA TECHNOLOGY HAS DEVELOPED A RAPID AMPLIFICATION OF SMALL AMOUNTS OF TARGET DNA WHICH, IF IT IS STRAIN-SPECIFIC, CAN ALLOW A MORE RAPID CLASSIFICATION OF THE MYCOBACTERIAL STRAIN. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THIS PROJECT ARE: (1) TO IDENTIFY DNA SEQUENCES UNIQUE TO THE MAJOR CLASSES OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS OR ATYPICAL MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM-INTRACELLULARE BY SELECTING STRAIN-SPECIFIC SEQUENCES FROM CONSTRUCTED GENOMIC LIBRARIES OF M. TUBERCULOSIS AND M. INTRACELLULARE, AND (2) TO APPLY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION TO AMPLIFY STRAIN-SPECIFIC SEQUENCES OF MYCOBACTERIA. THE PROCEDURE SHOULD CIRCUMVENT THE TIME REQUIRED FOR CELL CULTURING AND WILL ALLOW DIRECT IDENTIFICATION OF THE CLASSES OF MYCOBACTERIA.