In situ hybridizations of Eperythrozoon suis visualized by electron microscopy

Eperythrozoon suis is an extracellular red blood cell parasite that causes icteroanemia and poor growth performance in feeder pigs and has been associated with anemias in baby pigs and reproductive failures in sows. At present, few efficient tests are available for the diagnosis and study of E. suis infection in swine. This report discusses how a recently developed recombinant DNA probe (KSU-2) specific to E. suis DNA was utilized in in situ DNA hybridizations that couple biotinylated TaqI digested products of KSU-2 DNA with an immunogold detection system allowing the visualization by transmission electron microscopy of the gold particles within eperythrozoon organisms. Specific labelling by the probe of eperythrozoon organisms demonstrated a pattern that changed with the various stages of the eperythrozoon life cycle.