Ralstonia solanacearum causes bacterial wilt disease in many plant species, including mulberry. Here, we used a suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) approach to identify specific DNA fragments in R. solanacearum race 5-biovar 5. The genome of the R. solanacearum M7 strain was subtracted from that of the GMI1000 strain, resulting in the identification of 85 subtracted fragments. The primer set MG67-F/R for identification of Ralstonia solanacearum race 5-biovar 5 strains was designed on the basis of the clone MG67 sequence. Furthermore, a multiplex PCR was developed by using the primer set MG67-F/MG67R in combination with the species-specific primer pair 759/760. A 156 bp r5-bv5-specific fragment, together with a 282 bp species-specific fragment, was amplified from all tested R. solanacearum r5-bv5 strains. The sensitivity of the multiplex PCR made it possible to detect concentrations as low as 102 CFU ml-1 of pure culture. Moreover, the r5-bv5-specific multiplex PCR was successfully applied to detect Ralstonia solanacearum race 5-biovar 5 strains in diseased mulberry samples. Therefore, the multiplex PCR assay can be used as a reliable diagnostic technique to enable researchers to rapidly identify isolates of R. solanacearum race 5-biovar 5.