Specificity of primer pair ECA75F-ECR619R in the optimized PCR for amplification of E. coli 16S rRNA. (A) Agarose gel separation of PCR mixtures; (B) Southern hybridization of the gel in panel A to EUB338. Lanes: 1, 100-bp DNA ladder; 2, no template; 3 to 5, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8101 template; 6 to 8, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8002 template; 9 to 11, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8204 template; 12 to 14, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8009 template; 15 and 16, 1 ng and 100 pg of Salmonella serovar Typhimurium UW8P14 template; 17 and 18, 1 ng and 100 pg of Salmonella serovar Typhimurium UW8P40 template; 19 to 21, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8410 template; 22 to 24, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8P39 template; 25 to 27, 1 ng, 100 pg, and 10 pg of E. coli UW8001D template; 28 and 29, 1 ng and 100 pg of Shigella dysenteriae UW8P01 template; 30 and 31, 1 ng and 100 pg of Shigella dysenteriae WSLH template; 32 and 33, 1 ng and 100 pg of Shigella flexnerii UW8P02 template; 34 and 35, 1 ng and 100 pg of Shigella sonnei UW8P15 template. Strain designations refer to those given in Table 1.