Application of SmartGene IDNS software to partial 16S rRNA gene sequences for a diverse group of bacteria in a clinical laboratory

Laboratories often receive clinical isolates for bacterial identification that have ambiguous biochemical profiles by conventional testing. With the emergence of 16S rRNA gene sequencing as an identification tool, we evaluated the usefulness of SmartGene IDNS, a 16S rRNA sequence database and software program for microbial identification. Identification by conventional methods of a diverse group of bacterial clinical isolates was compared with gene sequences interrogated by the SmartGene and MicroSeq databases. Of 300 isolates, SmartGene identified 295 (98%) to the genus level and 262 (87%) to the species level, with 5 (2%) being inconclusive. MicroSeq identified 271 (90%) to the genus level and 223 (74%) to the species level, with 29 (10%) being inconclusive. SmartGene and MicroSeq agreed on the genus for 233 (78%) isolates and the species for 212 (71%) isolates. Conventional methods identified 291 (97%) isolates to the genus level and 208 (69%) to the species level, with 9 (3%) being inconclusive. SmartGene, MicroSeq, and conventional identifications agreed for 193 (64%) of the results. Twenty-seven microorganisms were not represented in MicroSeq, compared to only 2 not represented in SmartGene. Overall, SmartGene IDNS provides comprehensive and accurate identification of a diverse group of bacteria and has the added benefit of being a user-friendly program that can be modified to meet the unique needs of clinical laboratories.