Molecular identification of microorganisms has improved enormously during the last decade. Especially, short signature sequences complementary to 16S and 23S rRNAs have been found to be useful for the identification of groups of bacteria or even single species. Recent data have demonstrated that DNA microarray-based assays allow the simultaneous identification of pathogens from clinical materials and the prediction of their antimicrobial resistance profile.
J. Zakrzewska-Czerwinska, Zaklad Mikrobiologii, Instytut Immunologii i Terapii Doswiadczalnej im. L. Hirszfelda, Polska Akademia Nauk, ul. Weigla 12, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland