Evaluation of Reformulated Chemiluminescent DNA Probe (AccuProbe) for Culture Identification of

A panel of 104 isolates belonging to the species Mycobacterium kansasii and 78 mycobacterial isolates belonging to other species was tested in parallel with the present commercially available DNA probe (Accu-Probe; Gen-Probe) and with a new probe just developed by the same manufacturer. While the old version of the probe confirmed the previously reported low sensitivity (only 59 % of the M. kansasii isolates reacted), the new one was 100 % sensitive. Only two non-M. kansasii strains, both M. gastri isolates, gave false-positive hybridization results. The availability of commercial DNA probes has greatly con-tributed to increased levels of mycobacterial identification; thanks to a user-friendly technique, molecular probes even allow less experienced laboratories to correctly and rapidly identify the most frequently isolated mycobacteria. The DNA probes specific for theMycobacterium tuberculosis complex and the M. avium complex (MAC) now play a major role in modern mycobacteriological diagnostics, especially be-cause these organisms are more frequently encountered be