The possible use of a genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the identification of Salmonella colonies was tested on 14 reference strains and 38 clinical Salmonella strains isolated from chickens by the standard method of the National Poultry Improvement Plan and Auxiliary Provisions (NPIP), USDA, U.S.A. All the PCRs using primer pairs InvA1 and InvA2 (5) gave 281 bp amplification product specific for the Salmonella genus and produced results identical (100%) to those obtained with biochemical and serological methods. Thus, the genus-specific capillary PCR for the identification of a colony of Salmonellae from a selective agar plate was performed within approximately 2 h and the total time required for definitive diagnosis of infection was 2 days using primary enrichment (PE) and 7 days using delayed secondary enrichment (DSE).

The possible use of a genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the identification of Salmonella colonies was tested on 14 reference strains and 38 clinical Salmonella strains isolated from chickens by the standard method of the National Poultry Improvement Plan and Auxiliary Provisions (NPIP), USDA, U.S.A. All the PCRs using primer pairs InvA1 and InvA2 (5) gave 281 bp amplification product specific for the Salmonella genus and produced results identical (100%) to those obtained with biochemical and serological methods. Thus, the genus-specific capillary PCR for the identification of a colony of Salmonellae from a selective agar plate was performed within approximately 2 h and the total time required for definitive diagnosis of infection was 2 days using primary enrichment (PE) and 7 days using delayed secondary enrichment (DSE).