Abstract
Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are two of the most common infectious diseases in humans worldwide. As a result of these global epidemics, there has also been a rise in opportunistic mycobacterial infections. The genus mycobacteria contains pathogenic species that should be accurately identified to curb disease mortality. To this end, a two-color, single tube mycobacterial species identification assay has been designed using LATE-PCR and Lights-On/Lights-Off probe technologies. This assay uniquely identifies both tuberculous and non-tuberculous mycobacteria based on their individual fluorescence profiles. Quantitative classification was accomplished, using Euclidean distance metrics, with high rates of true positive classification for all mycobacterial species tested. The PCR assay and quantitative classification has been automated for efficient acquisition of results. Future efforts will focus on further verification of the assay’s capacity, and expansion of the mycobacterial species tested.