Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Department of Microbiology

Mycobacterium bovis, a member of the M. tuberculosis complex (MTC), is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis. Detection of M. bovis and M. tuberculosis using conventional culture - and biochemical - based assays is time - consuming. Therefore, a simple and sensitive molecular assay for rapid detection would be of great help in specific situations such as faster diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infection in the abattoirs. A novel multiplex real-time PCR assay was developed and applied directly to biological samples with evidence of bTB and it was allowed to differentiate between M. bovis and M. tuberculosis. The primers and TaqMan probes were designed to target the IS1081gene, the multi-copy insertion element in the MTC and the 12.7 - kb fragment which presents in M. tuberculosis, not in the M. bovis genome. The assay was optimized and validated by testing 10 species of mycobacteria including M. bovis and M. tuberculosis, and 4 other bacterial species such as escherichia coli

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