Abstract:According to the gene sequence of Perkinsus sp. in GenBank, one pair of specific primers were designed to amplify the specific fragments of Perkinsus sp. in shellfish. The obtained 596bp PCR product shared 99.8 % identity with the published sequence. This PCR assay was specific and no PCR product was detected from other pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, and Norwalk virus. The sensitivity determination showed that the lowest amount of Perkinsus sp. detected by this PCR was 1pg DNA. In our study, 104 Oyster, 49 Mussel, and 20 Clam samples collected from Guangxi coasts were tested by this PCR method. The percentage of positive results were 14.6%, 10.6%, and 15.0% respectively, suggesting that Perkinsus sp. exists widely in the cultivated shellfish in southern China and this PCR assay is a sensitive tool to detect Perkinsus sp. in clinical samples.
