Treponema pallidum, a bacterium, is the cause of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. At present, the treatment of syphilis relies on serum-based detection methods and darkfield observation of T. pallidum. However, these methods of identification are less effective in the initial stage of infection. In this study, we have developed a real-time polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) detecting the polA gene of T. pallidum DNA. The PSR reaction conditions were optimized at 62°C for 45 min. The polA gene displayed a distinct melt peak with a Tm value of 80 ± 0.5°C in the real-time melt curve analysis of the PSR reaction. The detection limit of the developed method was found to be 100 × 10−12 μg/μL. The specificity was evaluated by utilizing several bacterial species, and this method was 100% specific only to T. pallidum. The developed method is rapid, efficient, and can be used as an additional method for diagnosing T. pallidum infection.
Key words: Treponema pallidum, Serological method, PSR, polA, Real-time melt curve analysis.
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