_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: bmukhtar18@yahoo.com; Biotechnology Journal International 20(3): 1-9, 2017; Article no.BJI.37342 ISSN: 2456-7051 (Past name: British Biotechnology Journal, Past ISSN: 2231–2927, NLM ID: 101616695) Application of Metagenomic Study for the Detection of Diphtheria Toxin Gene of Corynebacterium diphtheriae in Patients Displaying Symptoms of Pharyngitis in Kaduna State M. I. Bindawa 1 , M. S. Abdulsalami 2 , Y. O. Abdul Akeem 1 , A. A. Jabbo 1 , M. Bello 3* and A. B. Suleiman 4 1 Department of Medical Laboratory Service, National Ear Care Centre, PMB 2438, Kaduna, Nigeria. 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria. 3 Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, PMB 2346, Sokoto, Nigeria. 4 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Authors MIB and ABS designed the study, wrote the protocol and wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. Authors MSA and MIB performed the statistical analysis. Authors MIB, AAJ and YOAA managed the analyses of the study. Authors MIB and MB managed the literature searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/BJI/2017/37342 Editor(s): (1) Jayanta Kumar Patra, Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea. Reviewers: (1) Constantino Gil Juárez, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico. (2) Sunarno Bin Siswiyanto, National Institute of Health Research and Development, Indonesia. (3) Olorunjuwon Omolaja Bello, Wesley University Ondo, Nigeria. (4) V. Bhanu Rekha, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research Pondicherry, India. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/22765 Received 11 th October 2017 Accepted 5 th January 2018 Published 17 th January 2018 ABSTRACT This study was set to detect the A and B subunit of Diphtheria toxin gene among patients with pharyngitis and to identify which of the possible biovars is endemic in Kaduna State. The result of standard collection of twenty-two (22) throat swab samples of patients using standard technique of Original Research Article