02000nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653002000067653001800087653001500105653001900120653003000139653002300169653001100192653001200203653002800215653002500243653003100268653003000299653003000329653000900359653002400368100001700392700001500409700001400424700001300438700001500451245010900466300001200575490000800587520101700595022001401612       1990                            d  c1990 Jul10aAnimals10aAutoradiography10aBase Sequence10aDNA Probes10aDNA, Bacterial10aElectrophoresis, Agar Gel10aGene Amplification10aHumans10aleprosy10aMolecular Sequence Data10aMycobacterium leprae10aNucleic Acid Hybridization10apolymerase chain reaction10aPredictive Value of Tests10aSkin10aSpecies Specificity1 aWilliams D L1 aGillis T P1 aBooth R J1 aLooker D1 aWatson J D00aThe use of a specific DNA probe and polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Mycobacterium leprae.  a193-2000 v1623 a<p>A DNA probe encoding approximately 80% of the 18-kDa protein gene of Mycobacterium leprae was isolated and tested for specificity by assessing hybridization of the probe to genomic DNA from taxonomically related and unrelated DNA samples. The 360-base-pair (bp) probe was specific for M. leprae DNA and did not hybridize with genomic DNA from 18 species of bacteria nor with DNA from human, murine, and armadillo sources. Oligonucleotide primers were synthesized corresponding to the 5' and 3' ends of the 360-bp fragment to yield a fragment of similar size on amplification of M. leprae DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A simple procedure for DNA extraction from M. leprae-infected tissues was developed that provided suitable template DNA for amplification. The PCR test was specific for M. leprae DNA from human and murine sources and detected M. leprae DNA in biopsies from leprosy patients and from control and uninfected human skin biopsy preparations seeded with as few as 100 M. leprae.</p>  a0022-1899