Compositions and methods for detecting group B Streptococcus nucleic acid

A method for determining the presence or absence of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in a sample, said method comprising:

• (1) contacting a sample containing or suspected of containing GBS with an amplification oligomer combination comprising first and second synthetic surface immunogenic protein (SIP)-specific amplification oligomers for amplifying a target region of a GBS SIP target nucleic acid, wherein the first and second synthetic SIP-specific amplification oligomers are each less than 60 nucleotides in length and comprise, respectively, first (A) and second (B) SIP-specific target-hybridizing sequences selected from the group consisting of:
• (a) (A) SEQ ID NO:3, or an RNA equivalent or DNA/RNA chimeric thereof, and
• (B) SEQ ID NO:4, or an RNA equivalent or DNA/RNA chimeric thereof;
• and
• (b) (A) SEQ ID NO:7, or an RNA equivalent or DNA/RNA chimeric thereof, and
• (B) SEQ ID NO:8, or an RNA equivalent or DNA/RNA chimeric thereof;
• (2) performing an in vitro nucleic acid amplification reaction, wherein performing the in vitro nucleic acid amplification reaction comprises incubating the sample and the SIP-specific amplification oligomers under conditions suitable for amplification, wherein the target region of the GBS SIP target nucleic, if present in the sample, is amplified to generate an amplicon;
• and
• (3) contacting the in vitro nucleic acid amplification reaction with a SIP-specific detection probe oligomer comprising a detectable label and a SIP-specific detection probe target-hybridizing sequence that is from about 15 to about 35 nucleotides in length and is configured to hybridize to a target sequence contained within a SIP amplicon amplifiable by the first and second synthetic SIP-specific amplification oligomers, wherein SIP-specific detection probe oligomer provides a detectable signal in the presence of the amplicon;
• wherein the presence of the detectable signal indicates the presence of GBS in the sample and absence of the detectable signal indicates the absence of the GBS in the sample.