Identification of restriction fragment length polymorphisms in DNA from Mycobacterium paratuberculosis.

DNAs from 34 mycobactin-dependent isolates of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and 1 isolate of M. paratuberculosis 18 were digested with four restriction endonucleases. Southern hybridization experiments were performed with a 32P-labeled oligonucleotide DNA probe derived from the sequence of IS900, an insertion sequence present in 15 to 20 copies per M. paratuberculosis chromosome. The probe hybridized with DNA from each of the mycobactin-dependent isolates, and restriction fragment length polymorphisms were detected among the isolates with each restriction endonuclease used. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis may permit identification of various strains of M. paratuberculosis, which has not been possible with other techniques.