A microtiter well plate DNA hybridization method using Mycobacterium kansasii-specific rpoB DNA probe (kanp) were
evaluated for the detection of M. kansasii from culture isolates. Among the 201 isolates tested by this method, 27 strains show
positive results for M. kansasii, but the other 174 isolates were negative results for M. kansasii. This result was consistent with
partial rpoB sequence analysis of M. kansasii and the result of biochemical tests. The negative strains by this DNA-DNA
hybridization method were identified as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (159 strains), Mycobacterium avim (5 strains),
Mycobacterium intracellulare (8 strains), and Mycobacterium flavescens (2 strain) by rpoB DNA sequence analysis. Due to
high sensitivity and specificity of this test result, we suggest that DNA-DNA hybridization method using rpoB DNA probes of
M. kansasii could be used for the rapid and convenient detection of M. kansasii.