en زیست شناسی مولکولی Molecular biology پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background:</strong> Zot (<em>Zonula occludens</em> toxin) is one of the secretion toxins of <em>Vibrio cholerae</em> in small intestine that binds to certain receptors in the epithelial cells and causes a change in the structure of tight junction. The purpose of this research is rapid detection of zot enterotoxin gene using PCR.<br> <strong>Materials and Methods:</strong> The genomic DNA was extracted by DNA isolation kit and gene amplification was carried out by the zot gene-specific primers. Then, PCR products were investigated by electrophoresis on 1.2% agarose gel stained by ethidium bromide. Also, the specificity of primers was measured using bacterial samples other than <em>V.</em> <em>cholerae</em>, such as enterotoxigenic <em>Escherichia coli</em>&nbsp;<span dir="RTL">)</span><em>ETEC</em><em><span dir="RTL">(</span></em>, <em>Salmonela.</em> <em>typhi</em> and <em>Aeromonas</em> <em>hydrophila.</em> The sensitivity of the PCR reaction was also evaluated using serial dilutions of <em>V. cholerae </em>O1 concentration (cfu/ml).<br> <strong>Results:</strong> The data showed that the designed primers specificity for zot gene was successful and the sensitivity of this method was determined about 142 cfu/ml.<br> <strong>Conclusion: </strong>In conclusion, this molecular detection can be used as a simple diagnostic kit in clinical laboratories for identification of <em>V.</em> <em>cholerae</em>.<br> &nbsp;</div> Vibrio cholerae, zot, PCR, Diagnostic. 37 40 http://rmm.mazums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-903-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyedeh Mahnaz Mousavi delnaz404m@yahoo.com 10031947532846006755 10031947532846006755 No Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. Mehdi Zeinoddini zeinoddini@modares.ac.ir 10031947532846006756 10031947532846006756 Yes Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. Azadeh Azizi azizi.a@modares.ac.ir 10031947532846006757 10031947532846006757 No Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. AliReza Saeedinia a.seedinia@modares.ac.ir 10031947532846006758 10031947532846006758 No Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. Arina Monazah monazah.arina@gmail.com 10031947532846006759 10031947532846006759 No Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.