the objective of this study was to develop a novel peptide nucleic acid ( pna ) probe for stenotrophomonas maltophilia identification by fluorescence in situ hybridization ( fish ) . 
 the probe was evaluated using 33 human and veterinary clinical s. maltophilia isolates and 45 reference strains representing common bacterial species in the respiratory tract . 
 the probe displayed 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity on pure cultures and allowed detection in sputum from cystic fibrosis patients . 
 the detection limit was 104  cfu / ml in spiked tracheal aspirate and bronchoalveolar lavage from healthy horses . 
 altogether the study shows that this species - specific pna fish probe facilitates rapid detection of s. maltophilia in biological specimens .