Patent ID: 7943346

Claim:
A method of simultaneously assaying for the presence and identity of a plurality of target bacterial species selected from the group consisting of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeuroginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae , and Moraxella catarrhalis , and at least one target bacterial antibiotic resistance gene selected from the group consisting of bla tem , bla rob , bla shv , aadB, aacC1, aacC2, aacC3, aacA4, mecA, vanA, vanH, vanX, satA, aacA-aphD, vat, vga, msrA, sul, and int, by performing an assay comprising: simultaneously contacting a sample with a set of amplification primers comprising a plurality of primer pairs, said plurality of primer pairs comprising: a plurality of species-specific primer pairs, wherein each species-specific primer pair hybridizes in said assay to a target nucleic acid sequence of only one of said target bacterial species, and wherein the plurality of species specific primer pairs collectively hybridize to a plurality of the target bacterial species, and wherein said plurality of species-specific primer pairs comprise at least a first, second and third primer pair that hybridize in the assay solely to a first, second, and third target bacterial species, respectively; and one or more antibiotic resistance gene primer pairs, wherein said one or more antibiotic resistance gene primer pairs hybridizes in said assay to a target nucleic acid from said antibiotic resistance gene, and wherein the plurality of primer pairs and the one or more antibiotic resistance gene primer pairs are chosen to allow amplification under a single amplification protocol; amplifying target nucleic acids from the sample under the single amplification protocol; and determining the presence or amount of target nucleic acids from the first, second and third target bacterial species, wherein at least one target nucleic acid is selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO. 37 and a complementary sequence thereof, for determining the presence or amount of Staphylococcus aureus and detecting the presence and/or amount of amplified product(s) as an indication of the presence or amount of said target bacterial species and bacterial antibiotic resistance genes in the sample.