Microbial Identification
AGRF has developed a service solution for Microbial Identification and Typing. Compared to traditional biochemical based microbial identification methods, a nucleic acid based microbial identification method delivers:
- faster turnaround time
- reduced cost per sample result
AGRF 16S DNA sequencing
Using AGRF's 16S service, your bacterial sample can be screened to the genus / species level.
All bacteria comprise the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S), which contains conserved and hypervariable nucleic acid sequences. DNA sequencing of the 16S component of the bacterial genome has become the ideal tool for microbial identification. A portion of the 16S gene is amplified and sequenced and data from your sample is then compared against the AGRF curated sequence database, which contains only microbial sequences.
Microbial Identification Service Process
Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST)
To further characterise a microbial isolate beyond species level and determine its sub-species, strain, or even sub-strain, MLST service may be employed.
MLST directly measures the DNA sequence variations in a set of housekeeping genes. Bacterial strains are characterised by their unique allelic profiles. The bacterial strains currently available for typing are:
- Enterococcus faecium
- Enterococcus faecalis
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Staphylococcus aureus
Should you have typing requirements for strains other than the above, please contact AGRF for updates on further strains.
Microbial Strain Typing Service Process
