Methodologies for in vitro nucleic acid amplification and their applications

USO DE ESTREPTOMICINA NA ELIMINAÇÃO DA LEPTOSPIRÚRIA EM TOUROS (BOS TAURUS INDICUS) NATURALMENTE INFECTADOS PELO SOROVAR HARDJO

RESUMO O objetivo desse trabalho foi verificar a ação de marcas diferentes de estreptomicinas polivalentes para o tratamento da leptospirose bovina em dose única (25 mg de estreptomicina por kg de peso corpóreo). O trabalho foi realizado com 14 touros adultos sorologicamente reagentes para Leptospira interrogans sorovar Hardjo, com título mínimo de 800 e com cultivo positivo. Os animais foram separados em 2 grupos de acordo com a marca da estreptomicina utilizada no tratamento, grupo 1: estreptomicina A e grupo 2: estreptomicina B. Os bovinos controles não receberam nenhum tratamento. Foram obtidas amostras de sangue e urina dos animais tratados e controles nos dias -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15 e 25; considerando-se o dia do tratamento como dia 0. Na urina dos bovinos tratados e controle foi realizada a reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR) e isolamento com inoculação em hamsters. Observou-se que a estreptomicina da marca A, em dose única de 25 mg/kg de peso corpóreo, conseguiu eliminar a leptospirúria no grupo de touros após 24h do tratamento. Já no grupo de touros tratados com a estreptomicina da marca B, foi constatado a leptospirúria entre 48h e 72h, após o tratamento. Em ambos os grupos tratados, a resposta sorológica apresentou uma variação da queda dos níveis dos títulos de anticorpos aglutinantes, sendo que embora a estreptomicina A tenha aparentemente apresentado um melhor desempenho quando comparada com as médias geométricas dos títulos do grupo tratado com a estreptomicina B as médias não diferiram entre si pelo Teste de Tukey (P > 0,05). Nos bovinos tratados a leptospirúria foi intermitente e a média geométrica dos títulos foi menor que a média geométrica dos títulos dos bovinos controles. A diferença do efeito da ação das diferentes marcas de estreptomicina está possivelmente na qualidade da matéria prima produzida pelos laboratórios.

cAMP-dependent Cl(-) channel protein (CFTR) and its mRNA are expressed in the secretory portion of human eccrine sweat gland

Immunoreactive cystic fibrosis transport regulator (CFTR) proteins in human sweat ducts has been documented but CFTR expression in the secretory coil has remained uncertain. Using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against epitopes in the R-domain and C-terminus, we observed the following: Formalin fixation masks the CFTR epitopes but the epitopes are exposed by treatment with urea and heat (antigen retrieval). Pen-Fix fixation preserves CFTR epitopes. The secretory coil also expresses CFTR epitopes for the R-domain and C-terminus. An MAb against C-terminus amino acids 1466-1480 coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (MAb WC) stained dark cells predominantly. Staining by MAbs against the C-terminus was completely blocked by a C-terminus peptide. mRNA for CFTR was amplified by RT-PCR in both the duct and the secretory coil. In situ hybridization for CFTR mRNA after 3SR amplification indicates that mRNA is localized in the dark cells and perhaps also in the clear cell cytoplasm near the secretory coil. mRNA is present in both the luminal and basal duct cells. We conclude that CFTR is expressed equally well in both the duct and the secretory coil, suggesting that cAMP-dependent Cl(-) channels are involved in regulation of sweat secretion and duct absorption.

Microbes in food processing technology

There is an increasing understanding that the microbial quality of a certain food is the result of a chain of events. It is clear that the microbial safety of food can only be guaranteed when the overall processing, including the production of raw materials, distribution and handling by the consumer are taken into consideration. Therefore, the microbiological quality assurance of foods is not only a matter of control, but also of a careful design of the total process chain. Food industry has now generally adapted quality assurance systems and is implementing the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept. Rapid microbiological monitoring systems should be used in these cases. There is a need for rapid and simple microbiological tests which can be adapted to the technology and logistics of specific production processes. Traditional microbiological methods generally do not meet these high requirements. This paper discusses the tests, based on molecular biological principles, to detect and identify microbes in food-processing chains. Tests based on DNA technology are discussed, including in vitro DNA amplification like the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and identifications based on RFLP, RAPD and DNA fingerprinting analysis. PCR-based methodology can be used for the rapid detection of microbes in food manufacturing environments. In addition, DNA fingerprinting methods are suitable for investigating sources and routes of microbial contamination in the food cycle.

Presence of wild type Aujeszky's disease virus in swine identified as subclinical low-prevalent serological test reactors within qualified virus-negative herds

Subclinical low-prevalent Aujeszky's disease (AD) serological test reactors are defined as those few swine within a qualified AD virus (ADV)-negative herd that have antibodies to wild type virus. However, clinical signs of the associated disease are not observed in these putatively infected swine or elsewhere in the herd. Twelve such animals, including 7 previously vaccinated with a genetically modified ADV, were identified in Illinois (USA) during a 2.5 year period. The humoral immune responses of the 5 nonvaccinated swine were assessed by an enhanced virus neutralization test and a radioimmunoassay. Anti-ADV antibodies were determined to be present in the serum from 4 of these swine. Attempts to isolate ADV by in vitro and in vivo inoculations of cell cultures and weanling mice, respectively, of tonsillar and trigeminal nerve ganglionic tissue preparations from each animal (vaccinated and nonvaccinated) were unsuccessful. Tonsillar and trigeminal nerve ganglionic tissues of each animal were screened for the presence of wild type and/or vaccine viral genomes by a soluble polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with Southern hybridization. Unique PCR primers were used to distinguish between wild type and vaccine viral DNAs. An additional PCR procedure, which amplifies a portion of the essential and highly conserved viral gp50 gene, also was employed in an effort to detect viral genomes. Wild type viral DNA was found in the tissues from at least 5 of the vaccinated and 3 of the nonvaccinated swine. These results indicate that such animals should be considered as being infected with ADV. Further, these findings emphasize the need to develop highly specific and sensitive antemortem testing methods for accurate assessment of ADV infection in herds containing such subclinical, yet serologically positive, swine.

Chemiluminescent detection of infectious bursal disease virus with a PCR-generated nonradiolabeled probe

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-generated digoxigenin-labeled nonradioactive oligonucleotide probe was developed and utilized in slot-blot hybridization coupled with chemiluminescence for the detection of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). The probe was prepared from the RNA of the standard challenge strain (STC) of IBDV serotype 1 by reverse transcription followed by 2 PCR amplifications with 2 separate sets of primers. RNA of STC viruses prepared from bursae infected with STC viruses was subjected to the first PCR with the outer primers V8 and V9 that amplified a 607-base pair (bp) segment. The PCR product from the first PCR was eluted following agarose gel electrophoresis and subjected to the second PCR with the nested primers V6 and V7 that flanked a 351-bp segment. In the second PCR, dTTP was substituted by digoxigenin-11-dUTP in the PCR reaction mixture so that the amplified 351-bp DNA products were labeled with digoxigenin. The specificity of the PCR-generated digoxigenin-labeled probe was tested on different strains of IBDV, several unrelated avian viruses, and bacteria by slot-blot hybridization assay. Hybridization was detected by chemiluminescence. The sensitivity of the probe was assayed using 10-fold serial dilutions of purified RNA from the STC strain of IBDV. The PCR-generated digoxigenin-labeled probe hybridized with genomic RNA of STC and variant strains A, D, E, G, and GLS-5 of IBDV serotype 1 but not OH strain of IBDV serotype 2. The probe did not react with avian reovirus, infectious bronchitis virus, Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli, or Staphylococcus aureus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Application of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in veterinary diagnostic virology

The polymerase chain reaction has become an important diagnostic tool for the veterinary virologist. Conventional methods for detecting viral diseases can be laborious or ineffective. In many cases PCR can provide a rapid and accurate test. In this article we explain the basic principles of PCR and supply a reference list of its uses in diagnostic veterinary virology.

Advances in nucleic acid-based detection methods

Laboratory techniques based on nucleic acid methods have increased in popularity over the last decade with clinical microbiologists and other laboratory scientists who are concerned with the diagnosis of infectious agents. This increase in popularity is a result primarily of advances made in nucleic acid amplification and detection techniques. Polymerase chain reaction, the original nucleic acid amplification technique, changed the way many people viewed and used nucleic acid techniques in clinical settings. After the potential of polymerase chain reaction became apparent, other methods of nucleic acid amplification and detection were developed. These alternative nucleic acid amplification methods may become serious contenders for application to routine laboratory analyses. This review presents some background information on nucleic acid analyses that might be used in clinical and anatomical laboratories and describes some recent advances in the amplification and detection of nucleic acids.

Differential polymerase chain reaction for detection of wild-type and a vaccine strain of Aujeszky's disease (pseudorabies) virus

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) strategy for differentiating between a vaccine mutant strain and wild-type (WT) strains of Aujesky's disease (pseudorabies) virus (ADV) was evaluated. With this approach, a single virus or a concurrent WT and vaccine virus infection could be distinguished by targeting the genomic alteration within the vaccine strain. PCR primers were designed for a recombinant vaccine virus that has almost all of the WT gX gene replaced by the lacZ gene. One primer, corresponding to a conserved sequence upstream of the altered region, was selected for common use. The differentiating primers were chosen from the unique WT gX and vaccine lacZ gene sequences. The sensitivity of the differential PCR was analyzed using extracted viral DNA and in vitro infected cell lysates. Approximately 10 and between 10 to 100 molecules of WT and vaccine viral DNAs, respectively, could be detected, regardless of the presence or absence of uninfected cell lysates. Detection of viral DNA from in vitro infected cell cultures approximated this level of sensitivity. The specificity of the amplifications was verified by restriction endonuclease analysis and Southern hybridization. Although the vaccine primer pair target was amplified to a lesser degree as compared to the WT primer pair product, utility of the differential PCR was demonstrated using trigeminal nerve ganglia from swine infected with vaccine virus and WT virus. Both viral targets were detected only by their specific primer pair, in either the single or dual infection.

Direct detection of bovine leukemia virus infection: practical applicability of a double polymerase chain reaction

A double polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay has been devised for the direct detection of bovine leukemia virus (BLV). The assay was directly performed on blood leukocytes, avoiding the DNA-purification procedures. The PCR products were identified by gel-electrophoresis and the specificity of the test was confirmed by hybridization with a biotinylated oligonucleotide probe. When testing the sensitivity of PCR, less than eight genome copies of the provirus were detected in the background of two million negative lymphocytes. In a BLV infected herd 22 animals of various age groups were examined by the indirect (serological) diagnostic tests of agar-gel immunodiffusion and indirect ELISA as well as by the direct detection method of PCR. The tests were repeated at monthly intervals on five occasions. When examining the specimens from cows and heifers, a close agreement was found between the results of the various methods. The newborn calves, which were the offspring of BLV infected mothers, were consequently negative in PCR throughout the experimental period. However, in the indirect tests the calves were positive during the first samplings and became negative only around four months of age. Since the indirect tests can not discriminate infection from colostral immunity, PCR proved to be a useful complementary assay for the safe diagnosis of BLV infection in young calves.

Applications of nucleic acid probes in veterinary infectious diseases

Nucleic acid probe technology is increasingly being used in basic research in veterinary microbiology and in diagnosis of infectious diseases of veterinary importance. This review presents an overview of nucleic acid probe methodology and its applications in veterinary infectious diseases. The major applications of nucleic acid probes include detection of pathogens in clinical samples, especially those organisms which are fastidious and difficult to cultivate, differentiation of virulent from avirulent organisms and vaccine strains from wild type isolates, typing of microorganisms, mapping genes, screening libraries of cloned DNA for specific genes, detection of latently infected or carrier animals, study of mechanisms of pathogenesis, epidemiological studies and food safety.