ABSTRACT
A qPCR assay was developed for rapid and sensitive detection of Flavobacterium psychrophilum, the aetiological agent of bacterial cold-water disease and rainbow trout fry syndrome in salmonid fish worldwide. A set of F. psychrophilum-specific primers based on 16S rRNA gene sequences was designed and validated for specific detection and quantification of DNA isolated from representative strains of F. psychrophilum. The qPCR assay exhibited a high specificity for the 16S rRNA gene of F. psychrophilum (from 4 × 10(8) down to 11 copies per reaction) but not for other Flavobacterium species or other bacteria including fish pathogens. This qPCR-based method proved to be useful in the quantification of the F. psychrophilum titre present within organs dissected out from diseased fish. As the F. psychrophilum genome contains six copies of the 16S rRNA gene, we could infer a limit of detection corresponding to two bacteria per reaction, corresponding to 800 bacteria per fish tissue sample, and therefore 20 F. psychrophilum cells mg(-1) of tissue (for sample weighing 40 mg). The qPCR assay reported here could be a useful tool for veterinary diagnostic laboratories to monitor the F. psychrophilum infection level in fish farms.