A Species-Specific Repetitive Sequence in Mycobacterium Leprae DNA

Josephine E. Clark-Curtiss, Martin A. Docherty

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

A 2.2-kilobase Mycobacterium leprae DNA insert fragment from a recombinant genomic library (pYA1065) was found to hybridize to at least 19 fragments of chromosomal M leprae DNA by Southern hybridizations. The probe hybridized to identical fragments of chromosomal DNA from four M. leprae isolates (two from patients with leprosy, one from a naturally infected armadillo, and one from a naturally infected Mangabey monkey) whether the chromosomal DNA was digested with BamHI, Bst/EII, PstI, or SacI. The pYA1065 probe is specific for M. leprae; it did not hybridize to chromosomal DNA from 14 cultivable slow- and fast-growing mycobacterial species. Dot-blot hybridizations between pYA1065 and purified M. leprae chromosomal DNA indicate that the probe can detect DNA equivalent to 4 Ü 103 M. leprae cells in a spot. The probe can also hybridize to DNA in M. leprae cells spotted on a filter from homogenized skin biopsy specimens from patients with lepromatous leprosy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)7-15
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Infectious Diseases
Volume159
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1989

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Infectious Diseases

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