title: Hot topic: Bovine milk samples yielding negative or nonspecific results in bacterial culturing--the possible role of PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism in mastitis diagnosis.
abstract: A large proportion of mastitis milk samples yield negative or nonspecific results (i.e., no mastitis pathogen can be identified) in bacterial culturing. Therefore, the culture-independent PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism method was applied to the investigation of bovine mastitis milk samples. In addition to the known mastitis pathogens, the method was suitable for the detection of fastidious bacteria such as Mycoplasma spp., which are often missed by conventional culturing methods. The detection of Helcococcus ovis in 4 samples might indicate an involvement of this species in pathogenesis of bovine mastitis. In conclusion, PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism is a promising tool for gaining new insights into the bacteriological etiology of mastitis.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Animal Hygiene, Technische Universität München, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany. Karin.Schwaiger@wzw.tum.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schwaiger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wimmer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huber-Schlenstedt
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fehlings
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hölzel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational / Q000235:genetics*