“…To determine the analytical sensitivities of the multiplex qPCR, the three reference strains G. parasuis serovar 1, M. hyorhinis ATCC 17981 T , and M. hyosynoviae NCTC 10167 T were examined. With an estimated average genome size of 1.8 Mbp for G. parasuis (Brockmeier et al, 2014 ), 0.843 Mbp for M. hyorhinis (Cibulski et al, 2016 ; Käbisch et al, 2021 ; Trueeb et al, 2019 ), and 0.864 Mbp for M. hyosynoviae (GenBank accession number: CP008748.1), the following approximate DNA quantities corresponded to 1 genome equivalent (GE): 2 fg for G. parasuis , 0.95 fg for M. hyorhinis , and 0.93 fg for M. hyosynoviae . To obtain an accurate limit of detection (LoD) for each target and to identify a reasonable cut‐off C t value, 20 replicates of each reference strain were analyzed with concentrations close to the LoD ( G. parasuis : 1 GE, 10 GE, 100 GE, 200 GE, 500 GE, 2000 GE; vtaA : 1 GE, 100 GE, 200 GE, 1000 GE, 2000 GE, 5000 GE; M. hyorhinis : 1 GE, 20 GE, 100 GE, 200 GE, 300 GE, 1000 GE; M. hyosynoviae : 1 GE, 5 GE, 10 GE, 20 GE, 50 GE, 100 GE).…”