TABLE 2.

Molecular beacon probes used in this study

Target gene	Beacon	Sequence (5′-3′)a	Size (bp)	Fluorophore	Quencher	Concnb (μM) multiplex
rtxA	MBrtxA	CGCGATCACCAGAGCGCCAAGAAGTGACTCGTAGATCGCG	40	FAMc	Dabcyl	0.25
epsM	MBepsM	CGCGATGCCACCGACATCGTAACGCTCCGATCGCG	35	Texas Red	BHQ2	0.25
ompW	MBompW	CCGAAGAAACAACGGCAACCTACAAAGCTTCGG	33	Cy5	BHQ3	0.25
tcpA	MBtcpA	CGCGACGCTGAAACCTTACCAAGGCTGACCAAGTCGCG	38	Cy3	BHQ2	0.50

^aMolecular beacons were designed using Beacon Designer (version 2.12) software from Premier Biosoft (Palo Alto, CA). Underlined nucleotides indicate the stem sequence of each molecular beacon. MBrtxA, MBepsM, and MBompW were synthesized by TIB MOLBIOL (Berlin, Germany). MBtcpA was synthesized by Proligo (Helios, Singapore).

^bRemaining PCR constituents were 2 U of FastStart Taq DNA polymerase, 1× PCR buffer, 4 mM MgCl₂, 200 μM each deoxynucleoside triphosphate (all from Roche Diagnostics, Laval, Quebec, Canada), and 2 μl of template DNA in a 25-μl final volume.

^cFAM, 6-carboxyfluorescein.