Development of DNA chip for the simultaneous detection of various beta-lactam antibiotic-resistant genes.

A robust and fast DNA chip method was developed in order to detect the various beta-lactam antibiotic-resistance genes in one slide. These genes included PSE, OXA, FOX, MEN, CMY, TEM, SHV, OXY, and AmpC. beta-lactam antibiotic-resistance genes were labeled with a fluorescent nucleotide by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction using a mixture of specific primer sets for each gene. This labeled target was hybridized with a DNA chip that contained the spots of the specific probe DNAs for each beta-lactam antibiotic-resistance gene. This technique made it possible to detect the specific resistance gene, even in a single bacterium.