HotStart and low-DNA Taq DNA polymerases are not sufficiently pure for sensitive and specific broad-range amplification of bacterial DNA. The genomic DNA (100 fg) of S. aureus was amplified by HotStart or low-DNA Taq DNA polymerases (Taq #1: Hot Start Taq DNA polymerase, Protech Inc.; Taq #2: Fast Hot Start Taq DNA polymerase, KAPA Biosystems; Taq #3: Taq DNA polymerase, TakaRa Inc.; Taq #4: ULTRATOOLS Taq DNA polymerase, Biotools Inc.) using the primer set p201 and p1370 (lanes 1, 3, 5, and 7). Significant amount of PCR product was present in the no template control reactions (lanes 2, 4, 6, and 8).