CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI - SPECIFIC OLIGONUCLEOTIDES AND DNA PROBES FOR USE IN POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION-BASED DIAGNOSIS

A 1189 base-pair long DNA fragment, VS1, was isolated from a Campyloba cter jejuni CIP 70.2 cosmid library and was found to contain regions s pecific for this bacterial species. For detection and identification o f C. jejuni, two oligonucleotides derived from the VS1 sequence were u sed as primers in polymerase chain reaction tests on genomic DNAs from 38 Campylobacter and from 10 non-Campylobacter strains. A specific, 3 58 base-pair long DNA fragment was amplified only when C. jejuni DNA w as used as a target. The detection limit of the amplification reaction was as low as 1.86 fg DNA, which is the equivalent of one C. jejuni g enome.