Streptococcus suis serotyping by a new multiplex PCR

A multiplex PCR was developed to detect all true serotypes of Streptococcus suis. This multiplex PCR was composed of four reaction sets. The first set identified nine serotypes (serotypes 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 16), the second set identified eight serotypes (serotypes 4, 5, 8, 12, 18, 19, 24 and 25), the third set identified seven serotypes (serotypes 6, 10, 13, 15, 17, 23 and 31), and the last set identified five serotypes (serotypes 21, 27, 28, 29 and 30). This assay correctly detected serotypes 2, 5, 14 and 24 in human isolates, and serotypes 1, 2, 1/2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 24, 28 and 31 in pig isolates from Thailand. No cross-reaction was observed with other bacterial species. Our multiplex PCR was able to simultaneously amplify a DNA mixture of reference Streptococcus suis serotypes. This assay should be useful for serotype surveillance of human and pig isolates of Streptococcus suis.