IDENTIFICATION OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA FROM BURN WOUNDS ISOLATES BY PCR USING EXOTOXIN A-SPECIFIC PRIMERS

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the use of PCR for the identification of burn wounds isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by amplifying a 396-bp regionof the exotoxin A (ETA) structural gene sequence. Specific primers amplified ETA-positive P. aeruginosa DNA, whereas other species of Pseudomonas and bacteria other than Pseudomonas which were isolated from burn wounds infections did not yield any 396-bp fragment. The specificity and sensitivity of the assay were 100 and 96%, respectively, which confirms the assay s reliability for diagnostic and epidemiological studies. The assay can detect 0.2 pg of P. aeruginosa DNA per reaction mixture (3ul) by ethidium bromide staining of an agarose gel. This method is rapid and less cumbersome than other diagnostic methods for the identification of P. aeruginosa strains. The method described can be used to detect a low level of P. aeruginosa from clinical samples without the use of selective media or additional biochemical tests.