Real-Time Microfluidic PCRs: A High-Throughput Method to Detect 48 or 96 Tick-borne Pathogens in 48 or 96 Samples

Abstract

Tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are often detected through classical molecular tools (PCR, nested PCR, real-time PCR), but these are limited in terms of the number of targeted pathogens due to the volume of DNA available for analysis. To solve this problem, in 2014 we developed a new high-throughput method based on real-time microfluidic PCRs that can detect 48 or 96 pathogens in 48 or 96 samples in a single run, such as ten species from the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group. We then used this technique for large-scale epidemiological studies of TBPs in tick and animal samples on an international scale through numerous collaborative projects.

Keywords: Borrelia; Coinfection; Microfluidic real-time PCR; Tick-borne pathogens; Ticks.