The PCR assay was applied to 10-fold dilutions of L. garvieae
ITP 1992. The PCR assay was positive (presence of a specific
1,100-bp band) down to the dilution corresponding to 4 bacteria
(4 CFU) per reaction tube (Fig. 2b, lane 4) but not for the
next dilution (0.4 CFU) (Fig. 2b, lane 5). These data showed
that the primers that were selected allowed a highly sensitive
detection of L. garvieae cells suspended in saline. In fact, we
have also tested the sensitivity of the PCR assay for L. garvieae
cells suspended in trout plasma and found a similar level of
detection (data not shown).