Theileria parva: detection of genomic polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction amplification of DNA using arbitrary primers.

Genomic DNA fingerprints were generated from Theileria parva piroplasm DNA by polymerase chain reaction amplification using arbitrary decamers as primers. Four of 12 primers tested generated amplified fragments which were polymorphic between different T. parva stocks or clones. Hybridization of radiolabeled total amplification products to Southern blots of T. parva piroplasm and uninfected bovine DNA confirmed that none of the amplified fragments were derived from any contaminating bovine DNA which may have been present in small quantities. Polymorphic DNA fragments were reproducibly amplified from independent DNA preparations made from cloned parasites. Individual amplified DNA fragments were gel purified and shown to hybridize to size-polymorphic EcoRI fragments in T. parva genomic DNA. Hybridization of individual amplified fragments to total fingerprints, generated using the same arbitrary primer, demonstrated that a single primer detected at least three independent genomic polymorphisms in T. parva DNA.