Molecular Identification of Brucella Bacteria Using BLS and Omp۳۱ Genes

Brucellosis or Malta fever (Mediterranean fever) is an important zoonosis caused by different species of Brucella – a small, Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, non-encapsulated, and non-spore-forming coccobacillus. Brucellosis can be easily transmitted to humans by Brucella-contaminated blood, meat, or milk. The lack of an effective tool for vaccination or efficient treatment has necessitated rapid bacterial detection methods for preventing this disease. In this study, we optimized the molecular detection of Brucella through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex-PCR. To this end, the Omp۳۱ and BLS genes were amplified, resulting in two fragments of ۳۴۷ bp and ۲۵۶ bp, respectively. PCR and multiplex-PCR specificity and sensitivity for genomic DNA were ۱۰۰% and ۰.۳۹ ng/μL, respectively. The detection time of Brucella was less than ۲ hours, which is obviously shorter than the identification time of the traditional methods like culture, which usually takes more than a day. Given the high specificity and sensitivity of Brucella detection with these genes through multiplex-PCR, we suggest this approach for evaluating the contamination of livestock in veterinary reference laboratories.

Molecular Identification of Brucella Bacteria Using BLS and Omp۳۱ Genes Keywords:

Brucella , Brucellosis , BLS gene , Omp۳۱ gene , Multiplex polymerase chain reaction , Polymerase Chain Reaction