JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY

Limit the abstract to 250 words or fewer and concisely summarize the basic content of the paper without presenting extensive experimental details. Avoid abbreviations and references, and do not include diagrams. When it is essential to include a reference, use the same format as shown for the References section but omit the article title. Conclude the abstract with a summary statement. Because the abstract will be published separately by abstracting services, it must be complete and understandable without reference to the text. Introduction. The introduction should supply sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of the present study without referring to previous publications on the topic. The introduction should also provide the hypothesis that was addressed or the rationale for the present study. Choose references carefully to provide the most salient background rather than an exhaustive review of the topic. Case Report. The Case Report section, placed after the introduction and before Materials and Methods, is optional and gives relevant clinical information about one or more patients while being incidental to the rest of the paper. (If the Case Report constitutes the entire article, the paper must be presented in Case Report format [see p. 11], which differs from that used for a full-length text or a Note.) Materials and Methods. The Materials and Methods section must include sufficient technical information to allow the experiments to be repeated. The sources of all media (i.e., name and location of manufacturer) or components of a new formulation must be provided. When centrifugation conditions are critical, give enough information to enable another investigator to repeat the procedure: make of centrifuge, model of rotor, temperature, time at maximum speed, and centrifugal force ( g rather than revolutions per minute). For commonly used materials and methods (e.g., media and protein concentration determinations), a simple reference or specifically recommended product or procedure is sufficient. If several alternative methods are commonly used, it is helpful to identify the method briefly as well as to cite the reference. For example, it is preferable to state ‘‘cells were broken by ultrasonic treatment as previously described (9)’’ rather than to state ‘‘cells were broken as previously described (9).’’ The reader should be allowed to assess the method without constant reference to previous publications. Describe new methods completely, and give sources of unusual chemicals, reagents, equipment, or microbial strains. When large numbers of microbial strains or mutants are used in a study, include tables identifying the immediate sources (i.e., sources from whom the strains were obtained) and properties of the strains, mutants, bacteriophages, plasmids, etc. 8 2006 JCM INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS J. CLIN. MICROBIOL.