APPLICATION OF POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION WITH ARBITRARY PRIMERS TO STRAIN IDENTIFICATION OF MYCOPLASMA-GALLISEPTICUM

DNA heterogeneity among strains and isolates of Mycoplasma galliseptic um (MG) was demonstrated with the arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) method. This method involves three cycles of low-str ingency amplification followed by PCR at higher stringency. Reproducib le DNA fragments of 25 different MG strains or isolates were generated with three arbitrarily chosen primers. The MG strains or isolates wer e distinguished according to the banding patterns of their amplified D NA on agarose gels, and the differences were characteristic for specif ic isolates. This method is rapid, simple, and reproducible, and it ca n also be used to determine the similarity between isolates of MG from various sources.