Development of a hexaplex PCR assay for rapid detection of virulence and regulatory genes in Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio mimicus.

We have developed a hexaplex PCR assay for rapid detection of the virulence and regulatory genes for cholera toxin enzymatic subunit A (ctxA), zonula occludens toxin (zot), accessory cholera enterotoxin (ace), toxin-coregulated pilus (tcpA), outer membrane protein (ompU), and central regulatory protein ToxR (toxR) in Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio mimicus. This hexaplex PCR proved successful in screening pathogenic-toxigenic and nonpathogenic-nontoxigenic V. cholerae and V. mimicus strains from both clinical and environmental sources.