Comparison of GTS and RAPD assays to characterize Thai Mycoplasma gallisepticum strains

Abstract

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is one of the important pathogens which have economic impact on the poultry
industry worldwide. Molecular characterization is the effective method to study the relation among international
strains and the epidemiology of MG transmission. In this study, 17 Thai MG strains were characterized by using 2
molecular assays including random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and gene-targeted sequencing (GTS) assays.
Results showed that the RAPD assay could classify the Thai MG strains into 3 patterns.Most MG strains obtained from
the same area were in the same pattern. Partial mgc2 gene was used to distinguish between the Thai MG strains and
MG strains from various countries.The phylogenetic tree of nucleotide sequence of mgc2 gene showed that 11 Thai MG
strains had 100% similarity sequence to Indian MG strains and one strain was 100% similar to Israel MG strain. The
targeted partial mgc2 gene could characterize the Thai MG strains into 4 groups while the RAPD pattern classified the
Thai MG strains into 3 groups. These results provided interesting data about the relation of Thai MG strains and MG
strains from other countries. GTS assay might be the new optional assay to monitor MG outbreak in Thailand.