Detection of drug resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

This invention relates to nucleic acids, reagents and methods for detecting Rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a sample from a subject. In one aspect, the invention provides methods of detecting Rifampicin resistant M. tuberculosis in a sample comprising (a) amplifying a nucleic acid containing the rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR) of the rpoB gene in a sample to provide an amplified nucleic acid; (b) probing the amplified nucleic acid with at least three molecular beacon probes for an RRDR mutant target; (c) conducting melting temperature (Tm) analysis to determine a Tm value for each probe; and (d) comparing the Tm value for each probe with a Tm value for a wild-type RRDR region, wherein a Tm value for at least one of the molecular beacon probes that is greater than the Tm value for the wild-type RRDR indicates the presence of rifampicin resistant M. tuberculosis in the sample.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.