Comparison of different molecular methods for detection of Mycoplasma synoviae

The "in house" PCR method and four commercial PCR kits (designed symbolically as A, B, C, and D) for the detection of Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in tracheal swabs of infected experimentally SPF chickens were compared. The chickens were inoculated intranasally with 1x10⁴ colour change unit (cfu)/mL of ATCC reference MS strain, and at 4, 7, 14, 28, and 35 d post infection (d.p.i.), the tracheal samples were collected and examined. The methods showed different sensitivities. The commercial test C seemed to be less sensitive (0.5 ng/mL) than the rest of the methods (50 pg/mL). Only the "in house" method and commercial test D detected MS DNA from 7 to 14 d.p.i.; no satisfactory results were obtained with the other kits. Since the methods have shown different sensitivity, their suitability for MS detection seems to be limited.