SPECIES-SPECIFIC DETECTION OF LEGIONELLA USING POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION AND REVERSE DOT-BLOTTING

Legionella pneumophila and some other Legionella species are capable o f causing Legionnaire's disease, a potentially fatal pneumonia. The id entification of legionellae by standard laboratory techniques such as culture is difficult and time-consuming. In the present work, the DNA sequence of the 23S-5S spacer region was determined for 43 Legionella isolates, and the sequence information was used to develop a species-s pecific detection system using PCR and reverse dot-blotting which empl oys just one PCR amplicon to perform genus- and species-specific detec tion. L. pneumophila serogroups 1-16 as well as 21 non-pneumophila iso lates could be identified and differentiated at the species level usin g this system.