Detection of Leptospira spp. from pure cultures and from experimentally contaminated bovine semen by polymerase chain reaction

Heinemann, M. BGarcia, J. FNunes, C. MHiga, Z. M. MVasconcellos, S. ARichtzenhain, L. J

Due to the high importance of the venereal transmission of bovine leptospirosis, this study aimed to test the ability of PCR to detect Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo DNA in experimentally contaminated bovine semen. Employing primers directed to the 16S rRNA gene, 10 bacteria/ml of semen could be detected by PCR. Results achieved in this work show that PCR can have a great potential to detect Leptospira spp. in insemination centers