Limit of detection for the N-avium/C-avium amplicon. A) One hundred picograms of purified B. avium DNA was used as the template in optimized PCRs as described in the text, with an annealing temperature of 50°C (lane 1), 52°C (lane 2), or 54°C (lane 3). B) Optimized PCRs using an annealing temperature of 52°C and 40 pg (lane 1), 20 pg (lane 2), or 15 pg (lane 3) of purified B. avium DNA.