Comparison of culture, DNA sequence analysis, and clinical diagnosis
| Patient | Sample | Culture | PCR/sequence analysis | % Identity/length of overlap (bp) | Diagnosis/comment |
| 1 | Cells | Staphylococcus aureus | Staphylococcussp. | 100/301 | Purulent arthritis, prosthetic joint, rheumatiod arthritis, sepsis |
| 2 | Cells | Escherichia coli | Enterobactersp.1-150 | 100/359 | Purulent arthritis, diabetes mellitus, joint operation, sepsis |
| 3 | Swab | Staphylococcus aureus | Staphylococcussp. | 100/360 | Purulent arthritis, sepsis |
| 4 | Swab | Streptococcus gordonii | Streptococcus sanguis | 99.45/361 | Purulent arthritis, prosthetic joint, rheumatoid arthritis |
| 5 | Cells | Viridans streptococcus | Streptococcus gordonii | 99.65/287 | Purulent arthritis, intra-articular injection |
| 6 | Swab | Streptobacillus moniliformis | Streptobacillus moniliformis | 99.45/359 | Purulent arthritis, two month history of infection |
| 7 | Swab | Staphylococcus epidermidis | — | — | Purulent arthritis, prosthetic joint |
| 8 | Cells | Staphylococcus epidermidis 1-151 | — | — | Purulent arthritis, prosthetic joint |
| 9 | Swab | Aeromonas hydrophila | — | — | Purulent arthritis, gout |
| 10 | Cells | Escherichia coli | — | — | Trauma, culture contamination |
| 11 | Cells | — | 1-152 | — | Possible purulent arthritis, prosthetic joint |
| 12 | Cells | — | 1-152 | — | Possible purulent arthritis, prosthetic joint |
| 13 | Swab | — | Staphylococcussp. | 100/259 | Possible purulent arthritis, unclear |
| 14 | Cells | — | Staphylococcussp. | 95.50/191 | Reactive arthritis triggered by salmonella |
| 15 | Cells | — | 1-152 | — | Trauma |
| 16 | Swab | — | Bacillussp. | 97.80/350 | Stress injury |
| 17 | Cells | — | Chloroplast 16S rDNA1-154 | 97.24/282 | Chronic osteomyelitis |
| 18 | Cells | Staphylococcus aureus | Staphylococcussp. | 99.72/362 | Not known |
| 19 | Swab | Staphylococcus aureus | Staphylococcussp. | 99.73/363 | Not known |
| 20 | Cells | Staphylococcus aureus | Staphylococcussp. | 99.69/326 | Not known |
| 21 | Swab | Staphylococcus aureus | Staphylococcussp. | 100/360 | Not known |
| 22 | Swab | Staphylococcus epidermidis | — | — | Not known |
| 23 | Swab | Staphylococcus aureus | — | — | Not known |
| 24 | Swab | Staphylococcus aureus | — | — | Not known |
| 25 | Swab | — | Acinetobacter junii | 100/362 | Not known |
↵1-150 Several enterobacterial species (Echerichia coli, Shigella boydii, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei).
↵1-151 Bacterial culture from synovial fluid was negative butStaph epidermidis was cultured from a synovial biopsy specimen. Bacterial PCR was not performed from the biopsy specimen.
↵1-152 Based on overlapping sequences, it is possible that DNA from more than one bacterial species may exist in the sample.
↵1-154 Several different chloroplast 16S rDNAs.