Table 3.

Summary of phenotypic characteristics of the field Brucella spp. from Zimbabwe^a

	Growth characteristics				Monospecific Sera		Phages at RTD					AMOS-PCR	Interpretation
Isolate No.	CO2 Dependent	H2S	BF	TH	A	M	Tb	BK2	Fi	Iz1	R/C	Size of DNA detected
B1, B6, B7, B14, B16, B21	-	+	+	-	+	-	CL	CL	CL	CL	NL	498 bp	B. abortus 1
B15	-	+	-	-	+	-	CL	CL	CL	CL	CL	498 bp	B. abortus 2
B10	-	-		+	-	+	NL	PL	NL	NL	NL	731 bp	B. melitensis 1
B4, B5, B8, B9, B12	+	+	+	-	+	-	CL	CL	CL	CL	NL	498 bp	B. abortus1
B20	+	+	-	-	+	-	CL	CL	CL	CL	NL	498 bp	B. abortus 2

^a All tests carried out by the reference laboratory (VLA), Weybridge, UK.

Isolate No. = Isolate identification

DNA: Test by the AMOS PCR

BF = Basic fuchsin at 20 μl/ml (1/50,000 w/v)

TH = Thionin at 20 μl/ml (1/50,000 w/v)

Phages: Tb = Tbilisi, BK₂ = Berkeley type 2, Fi = Firenze, Iz1 = Izatnagar, R/C = phage lytic for non-smooth species of Brucella

CL = Confluent Lysis

PL = Partial lysis

NL = No lysis

RTD = Routine test dilution

+ = positive (yes)

- negative (no)

bp = base pairs