Specific Detection of Legionella pneumophila: Construction of a New 16S rRNA-Targeted Oligonucleotide Probe |
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| Authors: | Dorothee Grimm Hilde Merkert Wolfgang Ludwig Karl-Heinz Schleifer Jrg Hacker and Bettina C Brand |
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| Institution: | Dorothee Grimm, Hilde Merkert, Wolfgang Ludwig, Karl-Heinz Schleifer, Jörg Hacker, and Bettina C. Brand |
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| Abstract: | Based on comparative sequence analysis, we have designed an oligonucleotide probe complementary to a region of 16S rRNA of Legionella pneumophila which allows the differentiation of L. pneumophila from other Legionella species without cultivation. The specificity of the new probe, LEGPNE1, was tested by in situ hybridization to a total of four serogroups of six strains of L. pneumophila, five different Legionella spp. and three nonlegionella species as reference strains. Furthermore, L. pneumophila cells could be easily distinguished from Legionella micdadei and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells by using in situ hybridization with probes LEGPNE1, LEG705, and EUB338 after infection of the protozoan Acanthamoeba castellanii. |
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