Division of Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122 (U.P.).
*Corresponding author: Division of Bacteriology and Mycology, I.V.R.I., Izatnagar; e.mail - grace_bly@yahoo.com, rajeshbly@ivri.up.nic.in
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to 97 virulent/natural strains of Salmonella of 56 different serotypes and 7 strains of 4- non-Salmonella cultures (viz., Aeromonas hydrophila, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Campylobacter spp.) with the objective to study the presence of ompC gene. The Salmonella isolates were obtained from repositories of National Salmonella Centre, IVRI. A set of primers targeting ompC gene was designed to standardize PCR assay, which gave specific amplification of an 1169 bp fragment. Results showed that all the strains of Salmonella used in this study were ompC positive. However, none of the non-Salmonella isolates showed amplification indicating its specificity. The minimum detection level with pure Salmonella culture was found to be 50 organisms in 25 l reaction mix. Thus, ompC gene is found to be conserved among Salmonella serovars.
