APPLICATION OF AN ARBITRARILY-PRIMED POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION TO MYCOPLASMA IDENTIFICATION AND TYPING WITHIN THE MYCOPLASMA-MYCOIDES CLUSTER

An arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) was developed using a primer pair, Mlip1 and Mlip4, for members of the Mycoplasma m ycoides cluster, a group containing important pathogens of small and l arge ruminants. Parameters that influence the reproducibility of this assay were optimized: magnesium, primer and template concentrations, a nd pH. AP-PCR fingerprinting, carried out on a number of strains of ea ch of the six species or subspecies belonging to the mycoides cluster, allowed the typing of strains within each group. The AP-PCR assay sho wed that the cluster can be divided into two groups: (i) high and (ii) no genomic polymorphism variation. In addition, specific polymorphic bands for members of species or subspecies included in this cluster we re amplified by this AP-PCR method, thus allowing their identification .