Background and purpose: Fast diagnosis of pneumococcal infections is of great importance in achieving successful outcomes. The aim of this study was to use PCR process based on capsular encoding genes of Streptococcus pneumonia.
Materials and methods: In this experimental study, specific primers were designed based on the reference sequences of the Streptococcus pneumoniae cpsB, cpsD, aroE, and psaA genes. All bacteria were subjected to DNA extraction separately. Then, the PCR protocol was performed. Sequencing of the PCR products was done and data was analyzed descriptively.
Results: The primer pairs against the cpsB, cpsD, aroE, and psaA genes amplified 159, 202, 254, and 286 bp fragments, respectively. The alignments and comparison of amplified sequences showed a high homology (100%) with the reference genes.
Conclusion: According to this study, it is possible to diagnose Streptococcus pneumoniae based on virulence genes, and differentiate the pathogenic Streptococcus pneumoniae from nonpathogenic strains and also viridans groups. Therefore, this method is suggested in diagnosis of pathogenic Streptococcus pneumoniae strains.
 

Keywords: PCR, Streptococcus pneumoniae, capsular genes

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