5 with SYBR Green I and with the TaqMan probe, the annealing temperature was set to 55°C, while for the real-time PCR with the HybProbes the annealing temperature was set to 57°C, as determined by the manufacturer of the primers and

DAPT probes (TIB Molbiol, Berlin, Germany). For the commercially available TaqMan Pseudomonas aeruginosa detection kit the annealing temperature was set to 60°C, according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Acknowledgements Pieter Deschaght is indebted to the IWT for PhD research grant IWT-SB/71184. Thierry De Baere is indebted to the FWO for a postdoctoral research grant. This study was funded by the Belgian Cystic Fibrosis Association. References 1. Gibson RL, Burns JL, Ramsey BW: Pathophysiology and management of pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2003, 168:918–951.CrossRefPubMed 2. Saiman L, Siegel J: Infection control in cystic fibrosis. Clin Microbiol Rev 2004, 17:57–71.CrossRefPubMed 3. Kerem E, Corey N, Gold R, Levison H: Pulmonary

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