A New Microarray System to Detect Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotypes

Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae, one of the most common gram-positive pathogens to colonize the human upper respiratory tract, is responsible for many severe infections, including meningitis and bacteremia. A 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine is available to protect against the 23 S. pneumoniae serotypes responsible for 90% of reported bacteremic infections. Unfortunately, current S. pneumoniae serotype testing requires a large panel of expensive antisera, assay results may be subjective, and serotype cross-reactions are common. For this study, we designed an oligonucleotide-based DNA microarray to identify glycosyltransferase gene sequences specific to each vaccine-related serotype. Out of 56 isolates representing different serotypes, only one isolate, representing serotype 23A, was not detected correctly as it could not be distinguished from serotype 23F.

The article is published online in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology and is free to access.