The family Enterobacteriaceae contains over 60 genera and more than 250 species, and organisms within this family include pathogenic bacteria capable of causing many different infectious processes, such as sepsis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, intra-abdominal infections and foodborne illnesses. 16S gene sequencing, a gold standard for determining the species of a bacteria, however is not adequate due to strong conservation of sequences among members of this family across multiple genera. Instead, sequencing housekeeping genes such as dnaJ has been shown to distinguish species within this family.
We have designed an Enterobacteriaceae PCR test (ENBDNA) based on partial dnaJ gene sequencing which can be used to detect and identify members of Enterobacteriaceae family. This test is currently offered reflexively when 16S sequence (from BCTDNA or NGS16S) suggests presence of Enterobacteriaceae family DNA.
