RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF PATHOGENIC LEPTOSPIRA SPECIES (LEPTOSPIRA-INTERROGANS, L-BORGPETERSENII, AND L-KIRSCHNERI) WITH SPECIES-SPECIFIC DNA PROBES PRODUCED BY ARBITRARILY PRIMED PCR

Arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) assays can be used to discriminate bet ween species of Leptospira. Comparative analysis of the fingerprints o btained from representative sets of serovar reference strains of Lepto spira interrogans sensu stricto, L. borgpetersenii, and L. kirschneri and the reference strains of the other Leptospira spp. revealed specie s-specific DNA fragments, These species-specific sequences were reampl ified in order to produce digoxigenin-11-dUTP-labeled genomic DNA prob es that could be used to identify Leptospira species, Three probes (sp ecific for L. interrogans sensu stricto, L. borgpetersenii, and L. kir schneri) were selected and tested with 72 representative serovar refer ence strains, all of which had previously been studied by DNA-DNA hybr idization, The two techniques were in general agreement, and hybridiza tion with AP-PCR-derived probes was shown to be a useful approach for rapid species determination of leptospires, without the prior need for DNA sequence information. These nonradioactive probes can be used to identify Leptospira species in nonspecialized laboratories, and this s hould contribute to a better knowledge of the molecular epidemiology o f leptospirosis.