Nucleic acid probes for the detection of Lyme disease spirochetes
AssigneeAmoco Corporation
InventorWilliam G. Weisburg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Nucleic acid probes are described for detecting bacteria capable of causing Lyme disease. These probes complement the ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequences unique to Borrelia spirochetes, and as such can detect the rRNA, rDNA, or polymerase chain reaction amplification products of these genes. These probes, plus the described amplification primers, can be used to detect the etiological agent of Lyme disease in human or veterinary samples, and for determining the infective potential of Ixodes ticks.
Claims16
An isolated nucleic acid probe consisting of a nucleotide sequence identical or fully complementary to a region of the 16S rRNA of Borrelia burgdorferi bounded by nucleotide positions 63 to 106, 178 to 194, 416 to 450, 453 to 481, 829 to 866, 1122 to 1156, or 1414 to 1475, which nucleic acid probe preferentially hybridizes to the 16S rRNA or rDNA of Borrelia bacteria over the 16S rRNA or rDNA of non-Borrelia bacteria.
An isolated nucleic acid probe consisting of a nucleotide sequence identical or fully complementary to the nucleotide sequence of probe 1643 (SEQ ID NO:
- 15) or 1637 (SEQ ID NO:
- 16).
A set of nucleic acid probes comprising at least two probes, each probe consisting of a different nucleotide sequence identical or fully complementary to the nucleotide sequence of probe 1616 (SEQ ID NO:
- 1), 1617 (SEQ ID NO:
- 2), 1618 (SEQ ID NO:
- 3), 1619 (SEQ ID NO:
- 4), 1620 (SEQ ID NO:
- 5), 1621 (SEQ ID NO:
- 6), 1622 (SEQ ID NO:
- 7), 1643 (SEQ ID NO:
- 15), or 1637 (SEQ ID NO:
- 16).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.