Patent ID: 8563250

Claim:
A method of identifying a bioagent in a sample comprising: a) selecting at least three oligonucleotide primer pairs, wherein each of said oligonucleotide primer pairs is configured to hybridize at conserved primer binding sequences flanking a variable sequence within a gene selected from the group consisting of a sequence encoding a 16S ribosomal RNA, a 23S ribosomal RNA, sspE, and RNase P wherein said variable sequence is sufficiently variable to resolve the identity of said bioagent; b) obtaining a sample comprising at least one bioagent; c) amplifying nucleic acid from said at least one bioagent with said at least three oligonucleotide primer pairs to produce at least three different amplicons; d) analyzing said amplicons to identify one or more bioagents in said sample wherein said analyzing further comprises generating molecular mass data for said amplicons; and e) calculating a base composition from said generated molecular mass data.