DETECTION OF Mycobacterium tuberculosis COMPLEX BY PCR-RESTRICTION FRAGMENT LENGTH POLYMORFISM ANALYSIS OF THE HSP65 GENE

Abstract

Mycobacterium bovis is a member of the M. tuberculosis complex, a group composed by species with high genetic homology. The pathogen is the etiological agent of bovine tuberculosis, an important zoonosis that is mainly transmitted by inhalation of infectious droplet nuclei or by ingestion of milk and crude milk derivative products from tuberculosis cows. The definitive identification of M. bovis, up to species level, is time consuming and difficult. In this work, the objective was to standardize a polymerase chain reaction followed by an enzyme restriction analysis in order to identify the M. tuberculosis complex in milk, without a microbiological isolation step. Reference strains and raw milk seeded with M. Bovis, were used as the starting material.  A 441pb fragment of the hsp65 gene was amplified and digested by two restriction enzymes BstEII and HaeIII. The obtained profile was used to identify the M. tuberculosis complex in milk. The minimum limit of detection of M. bovis in milk was 10CFU/mL. PRA methodology proved to be a specific and sensible method. It can be used to assist the microbiological and biochemical methods commonly used to identifying the bacilli in clinical samples, as milk 

Key word: Detection limit (PRA), Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, milk Mycobacterium bovis, Restriction Enzyme Analysis (PCR),