Patent ID: 7935806

Claim:
A toolkit for detecting the presence of a tetracycline or virginiamycin antibiotic comprising: a) a natural tetracycline genetic repressor TetR isolated from any of the classes of A to G TetR from gram-negative bacteria or a natural virginiamycin genetic repressor VarR possessing i) at least a first recognition site specific to a tetracycline antibiotic or virginiamycin antibiotic, and ii) a second recognition site specific to a double standard nucleotide sequence from operator regions of the tetA or tetR genes for recognition of tetracyclines or varA or varR genes for recognition of virginiamycins respectively, wherein the second recognition site is distinct from the first recognition site, wherein binding of said antibiotic at the first recognition site is capable of modifying the binding of the operator nucleotide sequence at the second recognition site; and b) a solid support comprising the operator region nucleotide sequence, wherein the sequence is i) located at the 3 ′ end of an element comprising biotin and a single-stranded chain of poly-T; and ii) directly or indirectly fixed to the solid support.