Use of nondenaturing silver-stained polyacrylamide gel analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplification products for the differential diagnosis of Leptospira interrogans infection.

A 285-bp DNA fragment was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction from 38 Leptospira serovars of six different genomic species. The fragments amplified exhibited differential mobilities on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels resulting from sequence-dependent conformational alterations. Leptospira interrogans serovars could be distinguished from those of other species on this basis.