Patent ID: 7090980

Claim:
A method of detecting an acid-fast bacterium selected from the group consisting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare and Mycobacterium kansasii , comprising: (a) performing a nucleotide amplification reaction on a mixture comprising (i) a test sample comprising rRNA, and (ii) a pair of primers consisting of a first primer and a second primer, wherein said primers specifically amplify a region of rRNA sequence that is specific to an acid-fast bacterium selected from the group consisting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare and Mycobacterium kansasii , and (b) detecting any resulting specifically amplified rRNA; wherein said pair of primers is selected from the group consisting of: primer pair (i), wherein said first primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:1, or a complement thereof, and said second primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:2, or a complement thereof; primer pair (ii), wherein said first primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:3, or a complement thereof, and said second primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:4, or a complement thereof; primer pair (iii), wherein said first primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:5, or a complement thereof, and said second primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:6, or a complement thereof; and primer pair (iv), wherein said first primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:7, or a complement thereof, and said second primer consists essentially of at least 10 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:8, or a complement thereof.