RESUMO
Objective To establish a sensitive real-time quantitative PCR assay with TaqMan probe for rapid detection of mcr-1 gene in clinical isolated strains. Methods According to the mcr-1 gene sequence, a pair of specific primers and a TaqMan probe were designed. Moreover, a recombinant plasmid with mcr-1 gene was constructed as the positive standard. TaqMan probe-based fluorescence quantitative PCR assay was used to detect the colistin resistance gene mcr-1. The sensitivity, repeatability and specificity of the assay were evaluated. Results There was a good linear relationship between the initial template amount and Ct value (R2>0. 999). The lower limit of detection was 10 copies/μL, which was 100 times more sensitive than the conventional PCR. Results of test for specificity showed that only the strains carrying the mcr-1 gene were positive, while the remaining strains were negative. Coefficients of variation of intra-and inter-group repeatability tests were less than 1％. Two out of 150 clinical isolated strains carried mcr-1 re-sistance gene and both of them were identified as Escherichia coli. Conclusion TaqMan probe-based fluo-rescence quantitative PCR for the detection of colistin resistance gene mcr-1 was established with strong spe-cificity, high sensitivity and good repeatability. It could be used for the specific detection of clinical drug-re-sistant strains positive for mcr-1 gene and provide reference for pharmacotherapy.