Patent ID: 7449293

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence or absence of a B. anthracis nucleic acid in a sample, comprising: contacting a sample with first and second primers under nucleic acid amplification conditions, wherein: i. the first primer binds to an insert sequence of an sspE gene, wherein said insert sequence comprises nucleotides 176-181 of SEQ ID NO:11; and ii. the second primer binds at a position that is separated from said insert sequence by at least 50 nucleotides, wherein a first amplification product is produced if Bacillus species nucleic acid is present in said sample and a second amplification product in addition to said first amplification product is produced only if B. anthracis nucleic acid is present in said sample, wherein said second amplification product is 117 nucleotides longer or shorter than said first amplification product; and assessing said amplification products to detect the presence or absence of said B. anthracis nucleic acid in said sample.