SUMMARY Background: The performance of a bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was evaluated and validated with an automated culture system to determine its use for screening of platelet concentrates (PCs). Study Design and Methods: PCs were spiked with suspensions of Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, Staphylococcus epidermidis and St. aureus at 1, 10, and 100 colony-forming units (CFUs) mL and stored for 5 days. DNA amplification was performed using realtime PCR. The BacT/ALERT was used as a reference method and samples were inoculated into an aerobic culture bottle; for the PCR assay, aliquots were drawn from all (spiked) PCs on days 0 to 5 of storage. Results: Real-time PCR detected only the grampositive bacteria in PCs spiked with low bacterial titres (1 CFU mL) after 48 h; however, it was able to detec
