ABSTRACT

Nucleic acid tests are very versatile. Therefore, the use of nucleic acid tech­ nology became increasingly important for disease diagnosis [1]. The nucleic acid tests provide an alternative diagnostic approach when immunochemical tests are ineffective. They can also confirm or complement some of the immunological tests. Of main importance in bioanalysis is their capacity to distinguish between a virulent and an avirulent organism and between the vaccine and the wild-type strains. These discriminations are based on the pathogen’s genotype.