PCR analysis of tissue samples from the 1979 Sverdlovsk anthrax victims: The presence of multiple Bacillus anthracis strains in different victims
AUTOR(ES)
Jackson, Paul J.
FONTE
The National Academy of Sciences
RESUMO
An outbreak of human anthrax occurred in Sverdlovsk, Union of Soviet Socialists Republic (now Ekaterinburg, Russia) in April 1979. Officials attributed this to consumption of contaminated meat, but Western governments believed it resulted from inhalation of spores accidentally released from a nearby military research facility. Tissue samples from 11 victims were obtained and methods of efficiently extracting high-quality total DNA from these samples were developed. Extracted DNA was analyzed by using PCR to determine whether it contained Bacillus anthracis-specific sequences. Double PCR using “nested primers” increased sensitivity of the assay significantly. Tissue samples from 11 persons who died during the epidemic were examined. Results demonstrated that the entire complement of B. anthracis toxin and capsular antigen genes required for pathogenicity were present in tissues from each of these victims. Tissue from a vaccination site contained primarily nucleic acids from a live vaccine, although traces of genes from the infecting organisms were also present. PCR analysis using primers that detect the vrrA gene variable region on the B. anthracis chromosome demonstrated that at least four of the five known strain categories defined by this region were present in the tissue samples. Only one category is found in a single B. anthracis strain.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=18726Documentos Relacionados
- Pathology of inhalational anthrax in 42 cases from the Sverdlovsk outbreak of 1979.
- PCR-Based Detection of Bacillus anthracis in Formalin-Fixed Tissue from a Patient Receiving Ciprofloxacin
- Vaccination against Anthrax with Attenuated Recombinant Strains of Bacillus anthracis That Produce Protective Antigen
- Immunization against anthrax with aromatic compound-dependent (Aro-) mutants of Bacillus anthracis and with recombinant strains of Bacillus subtilis that produce anthrax protective antigen.
- Real-Time PCR Assay for Rapid Detection of Bacillus anthracis Spores in Clinical Samples