RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The PCR assay resulted in the amplification of a band of
1,100 bp in size that was detected for all 35 L. garvieae strains
tested, including the L. garvieae ATCC 43921T and the E. seriolicida
ATCC 49156T reference strains. Examples of the amplified
band can be seen in Fig. 1 (lanes 1 to 6). The L. garvieae
strains tested by PCR originated from diseased fish from three
different continents (Asia, Australia, and Europe), proving the
universality of the primers selected for the PCR assay. The
specificity of the PCR assay was demonstrated by the fact that
no specific band was amplified when L. lactis or any other fish
pathogen was used as the DNA template (Fig. 1, lanes 7 to 12).
The amplification of the specific 1,100-bp band from both
L. garvieae and E. seriolicida reference strains (Fig. 1, lanes 1
and 2) confirms once more the genetic identity of these two
bacterial species.