Development of a multiplex PCR assay for identification of Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter fetus, Campylobacter hyointestinalis subsp. hyointestinalis, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter lari and Campylobacter upsaliensis

1 Division of Bacteriology, Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Osaka, Japan 2 Yodogawa Christian Hospital, Osaka, Japan 3 Microbiological Department, Kobe Institute of Health, Hyogo, Japan 4 Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan Correspondence Wataru Yamazaki-Matsune wataru{at}iph.pref.osaka.jp Received 26 April 2007 Accepted 9 July 2007 A multiplex PCR assay has been developed for the identification of the six common Campylobacter taxa associated with human gastroenteritis and/or septicaemia, namely Campylobacter coli , Campylobacter fetus , Campylobacter hyointestinalis subsp. hyointestinalis , Campylobacter jejuni , Campylobacter lari and Campylobacter upsaliensis . The assay was developed using a combination of newly designed and published primers. It provided a specific PCR product for each of the five Campylobacter species and the one subspecies, and each of the PCR products was sufficiently distinguished by a difference in size by agarose gel electrophoresis. On evaluation of efficacy with 142 Campylobacter strains, the assay correctly identified all strains as 1 of the 6 Campylobacter taxa. This multiplex PCR assay is a rapid, simple and practical tool for identification of the six Campylobacter taxa commonly associated with gastroenteritis and/or septicaemia in humans, and offers an effective alternative to conventional biochemical-based assays. Present address : Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka, Japan. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA sequences are AB301955–AB301967.