Detection of Bartonella bacilliformis in cultures, blood, and formalin preserved skin biopsies by use of the polymerase chain reaction.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is described for the detection of Bartonella bacilliformis, the etiologic agent of bartonellosis, which cannot be identified biochemically. Amplification of a genomic 231 bp Bartonella DNA sequence permitted specific identification of 12 Bartonella isolates from Peruvian bartonellosis patients as well as detection of Bartonella DNA in blood samples and formaldehyde preserved skin biopsies. Specificity of amplification products was confirmed by restriction fragment analysis. No positive results were obtained with Brucella abortus, phylogenetically closely related to B. bacilliformis, and several other bacterial, fungal, and protozoal species. PCR appears as a promising technique for specific identification of B. bacilliformis in cultures and in clinical materials with further applications in taxonomic studies and in the investigation of Bartonella-like isolates obtained outside South America.