A Mycoplasma gallisepticum strain-specific DNA probe

Total DNA from the vaccine F strain (K810) and the reference S6-strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) was cloned in Escherichia coli using the plasmid pUC8. A 6-kilobase fragment, specific for the vaccine strain, was identified by colony dot and Southern hybridization analyses. When labeled and used as a probe, this fragment hybridized with the homologous and one other vaccine F-strain (F2F10), but it did not hybridize with other MG strains (Fg38, S6, A5969, V503) or with three other species of avian mycoplasmas.