• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 1999

It is generally difficult, time-consuming, and expensive for the clinical laboratory to detect vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay system as a diagnostic tool for the rapid detection of VRE from clinical samples and/or for the identification of VRE from the bacterial strains isolated from clinical specimens. Specific primers, designed from the nucleotide sequences respectively encoding the vanA, vanB, vanC-1, vanC-2/3 genes in enterococci, were coupled in a multiplex PCR assay system. With this multiplex PCR assay system, we investigated the incidence rates and types of VRE isolated from clinical samples. A total of 75 strains of enterococci were isolated in 3 general hospitals in Korea. Of these isolates, 36 strains showed a pattern of high-level vancomycin resistance which associated with vanA gene, whereas 18 strains showed low-level vancomycin resistance associated with vanC-1 or vanC-2/3 gene. Thus, multiplex PCR assay method established in this study could be applied for the rapid detection of VRE.

• Journal of The Korean Digital Architecture Interior Association
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.13-20
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• 2008

As buildings have been constructed higher and more complicated recently, the activities of the residents occurred in those multiplex buildings have also become more various. As a result, possibility and the size of the damage from the disaster like a fire are getting larger. So, many studies for preventing the damage in refuge situation are being conducted. In this study, a new process for finding the optimum refuge path is presented, which is different from existing methods. This new method operates by using the human movement detection system in the building for real time. And the process also shows the new way which can shorten the number of calculation for deciding the optimum refuge path. That new way is to make variables such as the velocity of smoke and person movement into a constant. Finally it will be applied to a multiplex building.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1301-1305
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• 2006

The development of rapid, infallible, and sensitive methods of detecting foodborne pathogens has received much impetus in recent years owing to an increased public awareness of the health hazards. For the rapid and simultaneous detection of these foodborne pathogens, a multiplex PCR method was developed. Yersinia enterocolitica, Staphylococcus aureus, and Shigella spp. are bacteria of concern because of their specific growing condition that enables them to live at low temperatures. In order to detect each pathogenic bacterium, specific primers from Y. enterocolitica, St. aureus, and Sh. flexneri were selected and validated successfully. To apply this method to food stored at low temperature, Y. enterocolitica, St. aureus, and Sh. flexneri were artificially inoculated in lettuce and incubated for enrichment. The multiplex PCR assays were able to simultaneously detect three pathogens, and the presence of three bands was observed at initial inoculation levels of approximately 1$\times$10$^1$ CFU/g in lettuce. Therefore, this method could be used for simultaneous detection of Y. enterocolitica, St. aureus, and Shigella spp. contaminated in lettuce during cultivation, transportation, preservation, and storage.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.168-173
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• 2006

To develop the diagnostic method for the viral infection in apple, the partial genes corresponding to the N-terminal region of RNA polymerase of Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and coat protein of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) were characterized from the infected apple cultivars in Korea. Based on the nucleotide sequences of the characterized partial genes, the virus gene-specific primers were designed for the detection of ASGV and ACLSV infected in species of Malus. The RT-PCR using the primers for the genes of ASGV and ACLSV successfully gave rise to 404 and 566 bp DNA fragments, respectively. Using those viral gene-specific primers, the multiplex RT-PCR assays were also established to diagnose the mixed infection by ASGV and ACLSV simultaneously. Furthermore, the control primers, which have to be included for the RT-PCR as an internal control, were designed using the nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding elongation factor $1{\alpha}(EF1{\alpha})$. This multiplex RT-PCR including the control primers provides more reliable, rapid and sensitive assay for the detection of ASGV and ACLSV infected in Korean apple cultivars.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.64-74
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• 2015

Beetles Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis Kolbe (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) and Allomyrina dichotoma Linn. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are widely used in traditional medicine, and the number of insect-rearing farms is increasing in South Korea. The purpose of this study was to establish a multiplex PCR-based assay for rapid simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens causing insect diseases. Six insect parasites such as fungi Beauveria bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorokin (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae), Pseudomonas aeruginosa Migula (Pseudomonadales: Pseudomonadaceae), and Serratia marcescens Bizio (Enterobacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae), and Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus were chosen based on the severity and incidence rate of insect diseases in South Korea. Pathogen-specific primers were designed and successfully applied for simultaneous detection of multiple infectious agents in farm-bred insects P. b. seulensis and A. dichotoma using multiplex PCR and high resolution capillary electrophoresis. Our results indicate that multiplex PCR is an effective and time-saving method for simultaneous detection of multiple infections in insects, and the QIAxcel capillary electrophoresis system is useful for quantitative evaluation of the individual impact of each infectious agent on the severity of insect disease. The approach designed in this study can be utilized for rapid and accurate diagnostics of infection in insect farms.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2020

Purpose: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common lethal muscular dystrophy and is caused by the genetic variants of DMD gene. Because DMD is X-linked recessive and shows familial aggregates, prenatal diagnosis is an important role in the management of DMD family. We present our experience of prenatal molecular diagnosis and carrier detection based on multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR), multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), and linkage analysis. Materials and Methods: During study period, 34 cases of prenatal diagnosis and 21 cases of carrier detection were performed at the Seoul National University Hospital. Multiplex PCR and MLPA was used to detect the exon deletions or duplications. When the DMD pathogenic variant in the affected males is unknown and no DMD pathogenic variant is detected in atrisk females, linkage analysis was used. Results: The prenatal molecular diagnosis was offered to 34 fetuses. Twenty-five fetuses were male and 6 fetuses (24.0%) were affected. Remaining cases had no pathogenic mutation. We had 24 (80.0%) cases of known proband results; exon deletion mutation in 19 (79.2%) cases and duplication in 5 (20.8%) cases. Linkage analysis was performed in 4 cases in which 2 cases (50.0%) were found to be affected. In the carrier testing, among 21 cases including 15 cases of mother and 6 cases of female relative, 9 (42.9%) cases showed positive results and 12 (57.1%) cases showed negative results. Conclusion: Prenatal molecular diagnosis and carrier detection of DMD are effective and feasible. They are useful in genetic counseling for DMD families.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.761-765
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• 2008

Bacillus cereus causes two different types of food poisoning syndromes: diarrhea and emesis. The diarrheal syndrome is attributed to various enterotoxins, including nonhemolytic enterotoxin, hemolytic enterotoxin, and enterotoxin-T, whereas the emetic syndrome is caused by the dodecadepsipeptide toxin cereulide. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to rapidly detect and identify B. cereus strains. Three primer pairs specific to regions within genes encoding nonhemolytic enterotoxin (nheA), molecular chaperonin (groEL), and cereulide synthetase (ces) were used to identify and differentiate between the enterotoxin-producing and emetic toxin-producing B. cereus strains. The cereulide-producing emetic B. cereus showed 3 PCR products of 325, 405, and 685 bp for the groEL, ces, and nheA genes, respectively, whereas the enterotoxin-producing B. cereus showed 2 PCR products without a ces gene specific DNA fragment. Specific amplifications and differentiations by multiplex PCR assay were obtained using 62 B. cereus strains and 13 strains' of other bacterial species. The detection limit of this assay for enterotoxin-producing strain and emetic toxin-producing strain from pure cultures were $2.4{\times}10^1$ and $6.0{\times}10^2\;CFU/tube$, respectively. These results suggest that our multiplex PCR method may be useful for the rapid detection and differentiation of B. cereus strains in foods.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.325-329
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• 2018

This study developed a rapid detection method for Bacillus cereus in fresh-cut cabbages. Fresh-cut cabbage samples were inoculated at 1-, 2- and 3-Log CFU/g, and pathogens were enriched in tryptic soy broth containing 0.15% polymyxin B at $30^{\circ}C$, $37^{\circ}C$, and $42^{\circ}C$ to determine the detection limit and appropriate enrichment temperature for multiplex PCR detection. Enriched bacterial cells in enrichment broth were collected in a hydrophobic filter prior to DNA extraction for multiplex PCR. Filters were resuspended in distilled water, and DNA was extracted from the suspension. DNA samples were further analyzed by multiplex PCR. Detection limit of multiplex PCR was 5-Log CFU/mL. B. cereus cell counts were higher (P < 0.05) at $42^{\circ}C$ than other temperatures. Detection rate of 1-, 2-, and 3-Log CFU/g inoculated samples were 60%, 80%, and 100% after enrichment respectively. However, when enriched samples were filtered with hydrophobic membrane filter, detection rates became 100%, regardless of inoculation level. Results indicate a combination of enrichment with hydrophobic filtration improves rapid detection efficiency of B. cereus in fresh-cut cabbage by multiplex PCR.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.43-56
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• 1998

A multiplex PCR method was designed by employing primers specific for the eaeA gene, conserved sequences of Shiga-like toxins (SLT-I.II), and the 60-MDa plasmid of enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strain. A set of six synthetic oligonucleotide primers derived from sequences of the SLT-I.II, eaeA, and 60-MDa plasmid genes of E. coli O157:H7 were used in a multiplex PCR amplification procedure to detect these genes in the same enteric pathogens. In two enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 (ATCC 35150, ATCC 43894) reference strains, PCR products of 317bps (eaeA), 228bps (SLT-I.II), and 167bps (60-MDa plasmid) were successfully amplified simultaneously in a single reaction. However, the specific PCR products were not amplified in control strains of other enteric bacteria. The sensitivity of the multiplex PCR assay for detection of the SLT-I.II, eaeA, and 60-MDa plasmid genes of E. coli O157:H7 was found to be 2.5$\times$10$^{6}$ of bacteria in diarrheal stool to amplify all three bands. The multiplex PCR technology will allow large-scale screening of many clinical specimens or contaminated foods, and will be a very useful method for the detection of a wide range of microorganisms present in the environment, including EHEC O157:H7 in various types of specimens. The multiplex PCR assay has the potential to be used as a specific and rapid method for clinical diagnosis of disease caused by EHEC O157:H7.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.117-122
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• 2015

Canola is a crop globally used for production of oil and biofuel. Cultivation area and import volume of living modified (LM) canola have been increasing every year. As canola import dependence has reached 100% in Korea, efforts have been made for safety management of LM canola and ecological risk assessment. We developed a set of multiplex PCR method for simultaneous detection of 5 LM canola events (Topas 19/2, Rf3, Ms8, RT73 and T45) approved in Korea. The multiplex PCR assay developed allows amplification of estimated products of 5 LM canolas from event specific primer sets. Primer extension time was skipped for a time-consuming process and two annealing steps (20 cycles at $55^{\circ}C$ and 20 cycles at $60^{\circ}C$) were performed for yielding the best result which was sufficient to distinguish five LM canolas. Our results suggest that multiplex PCR method provides a cost and time-effective approach for LM canola detection.