Bartonella quintana

13. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)Direct amplification by PCR from various samples is themore specific method for the diagnosis of Bartonellainfection, particularly for the diagnosis of endocarditis fromblood and cardiac valves.This method is invasive and necessitates tissue biopsies.Various genes have been used (see appendix: list andreferences of genes). In our laboratory, which is the nationalreference center, with perform amplification using threespecific genes: pap31, groEl and ITS. We use a real timequantitative PCR. The specificity of obtained fragments issystematically verified by sequencing or by hybridationFigure 1 Sequencing of PCR product using ITS geneReferences1. Roux, V. and D. Raoult. 1995. Inter-and intraspeciesidentification of Bartonella (Rochalimea) species.J.Clin.Microbiol. 33:1573-1579.2. Zeaiter, Z., P. E. Fournier, G. Greub, and D. Raoult. 2003.Diagnosis of Bartonella endocarditis by a real-time nestedPCR assay using serum. J.Clin.Microbiol. 41:919-925.3. Zeaiter, Z., P. E. Fournier, H. Ogata, and D. Raoult. 2002.Phylogenetic classification of Bartonella species bycomparing groEL sequences. Int.J.Syst.Evol.Microbiol.52:165-171.4. Zeaiter, Z., P. E. Fournier, and D. Raoult. 2002. Genomicvariation of Bartonella henselae strains detected in lymph