Korean J Med.  2006 Jul;71(1):10-16.

Identification of Brucella abortus using the sequencing of omp gene

• Lee YJ
• Ko KS
• Park MY
• Oh WS
• Kwon KT
• Ryu SY
• Heo ST
• Peck KR
• Lee NY
• Song JH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As the incidence of bovine brucellosis increases in Korea, the incidence of human brucellosis is also increasing since 2002. However, it is difficult to identify Brucella species by using the conventional methods.
METHODS
Three strains of gram-negative coccobacilli were isolated from blood specimens of three patients with prolonged fever, which were not identified by using the conventional methods. After extracting total DNA from these isolates, PCR amplification of 16S rRNA and omp2 genes was performed. These sequences secured by PCR assay were compared with known sequences by using GenBank BLAST.
RESULTS
DNA sequences were obtained from 3 isolates by using PCR amplification of 16S rRNA. These sequences had more than 99.9% similarities with Brucella species by using GenBank BLAST. In the second place, after comparing DNA sequences secured by PCR amplification of omp2a and omp2b by using GenBank BLAST, these isolates were confirmed as B. abortus.
CONCLUSIONS
DNA sequence analysis is a rapid and accurate method for identification of uncommon microorganisms, such as Brucella species.

Keyword

Brucellosis; Brucella arbortus; 16S ribosomal RNA; omp2

MeSH Terms

Animals
Base Sequence
Brucella abortus*
Brucella*
Brucellosis
Brucellosis, Bovine
Cattle
Databases, Nucleic Acid
DNA
Fever
Humans
Incidence
Korea
Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Sequence Analysis, DNA
DNA
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S