The objective of this study was to develop PCR primers that are specific for Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus parasanguinis, and Streptococcus gordonii. We designed the S. sanguinis-, S. parasanguinis-, and S. gordonii- specific primers, Ssa21-F3/Ssa21-R2, Spa17-F/Spa17-R, and Sgo41-F1/Sgo41-R1 respectively, based on the nucleotide sequences of the Ssa21, Spa17, and Sgo41 DNA probes that were screened using inverted dot blot hybridization (IDBH). The species-specificity of these primers was as- sessed against 43 strains of mitis group streptococci, in- cluding clinical strains of S. sanguinis, S. parasanguinis, and S. gordonii. The resulting PCR data revealed that species-specific amplicons had been obtained from all strains of the target species tested, and that none of these amp- licons occurred in any other strains from other species. These results suggest that the Ssa21-F3/Ssa21-R2, Spa17- F/Spa17-R, and Sgo41-F1/Sgo41-R1 primers may be useful in detecting S. sanguinis, S. parasanguinis, and S. gordonii at the species level, respectively.

• Soon-Nang Park(Korean Collection for Oral Microbiology, Department of Oral Biochemistry, and Oral Biology Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chosun University)
• Joong-Ki Kook(Korean Collection for Oral Microbiology, Department of Oral Biochemistry, and Oral Biology Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Chosun University) Correspondence