ABSTRACT
Bovine tuberculosis, a chronic disease of animals is caused by species of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) and it remains a potential threat to animals as well as humans. Differentiation of the species of MTC is required for epidemiological and diagnostic purpose. The present study evaluated the presence of different species of MTC in bovines using gyrB-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. In this study, blood and milk samples from 50 milch animals which were positive reactors of comparative intradermal tuberculin test were collected. Screening of MTC was done by IS6110-PCR using primers INS1/INS2 specific for MTC. The positive samples were further identified using gyrB- Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Out of 50 positive reactors to CITT, only 4 (8%) animal were positive for MTC by IS6110-PCR. And gyrB-RFLP analysis using RsaI and SacII showed two positive for M. bovis and two animals for M. tuberculosis. Thus, gyrB-RFLP could be used as an additional tool in differential diagnosis of mycobacterial diseases thereby able to differentiate species of MTC