disclosed are oligonucleotides useful in methods for determining whether a sample contains atopobium vaginae or has an increased likelihood of containing atopobium vaginae , an organism which is seen in conjunction with bacterial vaginosis or is a causative agent of bacterial vaginosis . these oligonucleotides , which have nucleotide sequences derived from a segment of the genome of atopobium vaginae , are useful as forward and reverse primers for a polymerase chain reaction using nucleic acids from a biological sample as a template , and as probes for detecting any resultant amplicon . detection of an amplicon indicates the sample contains atopobium vaginae or has an increased likelihood of containing atopobium vaginae .