Detection of cariogenic bacteria genes by a combination of allele-specific polymerase chain reactions and a novel bioluminescent pyrophosphate assay.

We developed a novel bioluminescent assay for detection of pyrophosphate in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product. The principle of this method is as follows: pyrophosphate released by PCR is converted to adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) by pyruvate phosphate dikinase in the presence of the substrate pyruvate phosphate and the coenzyme adenosine 5'-monophosphate; subsequently, ATP concentration is determined by firefly luciferase reaction. The detection limit of pyrophosphate is 1.56 x 10(-15)mol/assay. Additionally, luminescent intensity reached a maximum at approximately 100 s and remained elevated beyond 10 min. This approach is applicable to the detection of cariogenic bacteria in dental plaque. Thus, the allele-specific PCR products of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus developed in this study were measured via the proposed bioluminescent assay. This protocol, which does not require expensive equipment, can be utilized to rapidly monitor cariogenic bacteria in dental plaque.