Development of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction to detect five common Gram-negative bacteria of aquatic animals

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (m-PCR) technique was developed as a rapid and accurate diagnostic tool for identifying five major Gram-negative bacilli -Vibrio vulnificus, V. parahaemolyticus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Chryseobacterium meningosepticum and Edwardsiella tarda- that cause major diseases in cultured aquatic animals in Taiwan. The expected amplicons for V. vulnificus, V. parahaemolyticus, A. hydrophila, C. meningosepticum and E. tarda were 410, 368, 685, 180 and 230bp, respectively. The assay was shown to be specific for the target pathogens. The sensitivities of detection were estimated to be 20.5fg∼200pg of genomic DNA or 10(2) ∼10(4) colony-forming units (cfu) of bacterial isolates when adopted as PCR templates. The m-PCR was capable of simultaneously amplifying target fragments from bacterial genome DNA mixed with the DNA extracted from viscera and tissues taken from fish without affecting the performance of the method.