Test ID: EHRL    
Ehrlichia/Anaplasma, Molecular Detection, PCR, Blood

Nucleic acid is extracted from the pathogens in blood using the automated MagNA Pure LC system. The extract is then transferred to individual self-contained capillary cuvettes for amplification. The LightCycler is an automated instrument that amplifies and monitors the development of target nucleic acid (amplicon) after each cycle of PCR. The DNA target for PCR assay is groEL, the open reading frame gene segment of the heat-shock protein operon (groEL), which is present at a frequency of 1 copy per organism in pathogenic species of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia. A specific base pair DNA target sequence is amplified by PCR. The detection of amplicon is based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), which utilizes a hybridization probe with a donor fluorophore, fluorescein, at the 3' end and a second hybridization probe with an acceptor fluorophore, LC-Red 640, at the 5' end. When the target amplicon is present, the LC-Red 640 emits a measurable and quantifiable light signal at a specific wavelength. Presence of the specific organism nucleic acid may be confirmed by performing a melting curve analysis of the amplicon. Using features of the melting curve analysis, the assay primers and specific hybridization probes are able to detect and differentiate among Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichiosis chaffeensis, Ehrlichia muris-like organism, and Ehrlichia ewingii/canis. Due to close proximity of the melting curves of Ehrlichia ewingii and Ehrlichia canis, this assay cannot distinguish between these 2 organisms.(Cockerill FR, Uhl FR: Applications and challenges of real-time PCR for the clinical microbiology laboratory. In Rapid Cycle Real-Time PCR. Edited by U Reischl, C Wittwer, F Cockerill. Springer, NY, 2002)

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