Avian mycoplasma identification using polymerase chain reaction amplicon and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.

A general mycoplasma polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to generate amplicon (DNA amplification product) from nine avian mycoplasma species. The PCR amplicons were reacted with 24 restriction enzymes, and the electrophoretic patterns of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were evaluated for differences between species of mycoplasms. Four (DraI, MseI, RsaI, Tsp5091) of the 24 restriction enzymes cut the PCR amplicon of all nine mycoplasma species. The nine avian mycoplasma species could be distinctly differentiated using the RFLP analysis of the PCR amplicon.