ABSTRACTMycobacterial infections in fish are commonly referred to as piscine mycobacteriosis, irrespectively of the specific identity of the causal organism. They usually cause a chronic disease and sometimes may result in high mortalities and severe economic losses. Nearly 20 species ofMycobacteriumhave been reported to infect fish. Among them,Mycobacterium marinum,M. fortuitum, andM. chelonaeare generally considered the major agents responsible for fish mycobacteriosis. As no quick and inexpensive diagnostic test exists, we tested the potential of high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) to rapidly identify and differentiate severalMycobacteriumspecies involved in fish infections. By analyzing both the melting temperature and melting profile of the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), we were able to discriminate 12 different species simultaneously. Sensitivity tests conducted on purifiedM. marinumandM. fortuitumDNA revealed a limit of detection of 10 genome equivalents per reaction. The primers used in this procedure did not lead to any amplification signal with 16 control non-Mycobacteriumspecies, thereby demonstrating their specificity for the genusMycobacterium.
Correction: Validation of High Resolution Melting Analysis (HRM) of the Amplified ITS2 Region for the Detection and Identification of Yeasts from Clinical Samples: Comparison with Culture and MALDI-TOF Based Identification
