Detection of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae DNA by the polymerase chain reaction

DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was examined to detect DNA of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, an etiological agent of porcine pneumonia. A pair of synthetic primers was selected that specify the amplification of a 520-basepair DNA fragment in a reiterative sequence of M. hyopneumoniae genome. The PCR product was detected by direct gel electrophoresis or by blot hybridization to a synthetic oligonucleotide probe. The specificity of PCR for M. hyopneumoniae was confirmed by lack of cross-reactivity to DNA from other porcine mycoplasmas.