scholarly journals Sacbrood Virus of the Honeybee (Apis mellifera): Rapid Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis Using Reverse Transcription-PCR

2001 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvira Grabensteiner ◽  
Wolfgang Ritter ◽  
Michael J. Carter ◽  
Sean Davison ◽  
Hermann Pechhacker ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Sacbrood virus (SBV) infects larvae of the honeybee (Apis mellifera), resulting in failure to pupate and death. Until now, identification of viruses in honeybee infections has been based on traditional methods such as electron microscopy, immunodiffusion, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Culture cannot be used because no honeybee cell lines are available. These techniques are low in sensitivity and specificity. However, the complete nucleotide sequence of SBV has recently been determined, and with these data, we now report a reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) test for the direct, rapid, and sensitive detection of these viruses. RT-PCR was used to target five different areas of the SBV genome using infected honeybees and larvae originating from geographically distinct regions. The RT-PCR assay proved to be a rapid, specific, and sensitive diagnostic tool for the direct detection of SBV nucleic acid in samples of infected honeybees and brood regardless of geographic origin. The amplification products were sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis suggested the existence of at least three distinct genotypes of SBV.

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Balmaseda ◽  
José Victor Zambrana ◽  
Damaris Collado ◽  
Nadezna García ◽  
Saira Saborío ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTZika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that is responsible for recent explosive epidemics in the Americas. Notably, ZIKV infection during pregnancy has been found to cause congenital birth defects, including microcephaly, and ZIKV has been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. Diagnosis and surveillance of Zika in the Americas have been challenging due to similar clinical manifestations and extensive antibody cross-reactivity with endemic flaviviral diseases, such as dengue. We evaluated four serological and two reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) methods in acute-phase (mean day, 1.8), early-convalescent-phase (mean day, 16.7), and late-convalescent-phase (mean, ~7 months) samples from the same individuals in a long-term pediatric cohort study in Nicaragua. Well-characterized samples from 301 cases of Zika, dengue, or non-Zika, nondengue febrile illnesses were tested. Compared to a composite reference, an in-house IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) and the NIAID-Biodefense and Emerging Infections (BEI) MAC-ELISA measuring IgM yielded sensitivities of 94.5% and 70.1% and specificities of 85.6% and 82.8%, respectively. The NS1 blockade-of-binding ELISA measuring anti-ZIKV NS1 antibody levels yielded sensitivities of 85.0% and 96.5% and specificities of 91.4% and 92.6% at early and late convalescence, respectively. An inhibition ELISA detecting total anti-ZIKV antibodies had sensitivity and specificity values of 68.3% and 58.3% for diagnosis and 94.0% and 98.6% for measuring annual infection incidence. Finally, the ZCD and Trioplex real-time RT-PCR assays detecting Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses both yielded a sensitivity of 96.1% and specificity of 100%. Together, these assays resolve the urgent need for diagnostic and surveillance tools for countries affected by Zika virus infections.


2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1804-1806 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Frühwirth ◽  
S. Brösl ◽  
H. Ellemunter ◽  
I. Moll-Schüler ◽  
A. Rohwedder ◽  
...  

To assess the potential benefits of a reassortant tetravalent rotavirus vaccine, we investigated stool specimens from children in three different groups by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) for rotavirus G and P types: (i) children not hospitalized with community-acquired rotavirus-acute gastroenteritis (RV-AGE), (ii) children hospitalized for RV-AGE, and (iii) children with nosocomially acquired RV-AGE. From a total of 553 samples investigated, 335 were positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, of which 294 (88%) were positive by RT-PCR. Among the RT-PCR-positive samples, the predominant types were G1P[8] (84%), followed by G4P[8] (9%) and G3P[8] (2%). No differences between the three groups were observed, suggesting that community vaccination will diminish the most cost-relevant cases of hospitalizations and nosocomial infections.


2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 4604-4613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Alexandersen ◽  
Morag A. Forsyth ◽  
Scott M. Reid ◽  
Graham J. Belsham

A reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR)–enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system that detects a relatively conserved region within the RNA genome of all seven serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) has been developed. The high specificity of the assay is achieved by including a rapid hybridization step with a biotin-labeled internal oligonucleotide. The assay is highly sensitive, fast, and easy to perform. A similar assay, based on a highly variable region of the FMDV genome and employing a single asymmetric RT-PCR and multiple hybridization oligonucleotides, was developed to demonstrate the method's ability to type FMDV. Based on our theoretical and practical knowledge of the methodology, we predict that similar assays are applicable to diagnosis and strain differentiation in any system amenable to PCR amplification.


2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carine Barreau ◽  
Elizabeth Benson ◽  
Helen White-Cooper

Post-meiotic transcription is widespread in mammalian spermatogenesis, but is generally believed to be absent from Drosophila spermatogenesis. Genes required during meiosis, in early spermatids or later in spermiogenesis are typically transcribed in primary spermatocytes in Drosophila. Their mRNAs are then stored in the cytoplasm until the protein product is needed. Recently, using in situ hybridization, we identified 17 Drosophila genes, collectively named ‘comets’ and ‘cups’, whose mRNAs are most abundant in, and localize to the distal ends of, elongating spermatids. Using a single-cyst quantitative RT–PCR (reverse transcription–PCR) assay, we confirmed this unusual expression pattern and conclusively demonstrate the existence of post-meiotic transcription in Drosophila spermatids. We found that transcription of comets and cups occurs just before protamines can be detected in spermatid nuclei.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bixing Huang ◽  
Alyssa T. Pyke ◽  
Jamie McMahon ◽  
David Warrilow

ABSTRACT A case of chikungunya virus infection was imported from India into Australia in late 2016. Infection was diagnosed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR and confirmed by culture isolation and genome sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of the genome sequence indicated that the virus grouped with the east/central/south African genotype.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (10) ◽  
pp. 5782-5786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoko Nishida ◽  
Hirokazu Kimura ◽  
Mika Saitoh ◽  
Michiyo Shinohara ◽  
Masahiko Kato ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Noroviruses (NVs) cause many cases of oyster- or clam-associated gastroenteritis in various countries. We collected 191 samples from Japanese oysters intended for raw consumption that had been harvested from the sea in two different areas between December 2001 and February 2002. To detect, quantitate, and phylogenetically analyze the NV genome in purified concentrates from the stomachs and digestive diverticula of these oysters, we amplified the NV capsid gene by reverse transcription-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by using the neighbor-joining method. We detected the NV genome in 17 of 191 oysters (9%). Phylogenetic analysis indicated genogroup I (Norwalk virus type) in 3 of the 17 oysters and genogroup II (Snow Mountain virus type) in the other 14. Both genogroups showed wide genetic diversity. To quantify the NV capsid gene in these oysters, we performed real-time PCR using genogroup-specific probes. More than 102 copies of the NV genome were detected in 11 of 17 oysters. The results suggested that about 10% of Japanese oysters intended for raw consumption harbored NVs, and more than 50% of those oysters in which NVs were detected had a large amount.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 941-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie-Sophie Hecht ◽  
Angeles Jurado-Jimenez ◽  
Markus Hess ◽  
Hussein El Halas ◽  
Gregor Bochenek ◽  
...  

Aim: We report the diagnostic evaluation of a confirmatory reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) kit targeting the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) N gene. Material & methods: 33 patient samples from two collections sites in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which were pre-characterized via real-time RT-PCR targeting MERS-CoV orf1a and upE, and were tested using the MERS-CoV N gene, as a confirmatory assay. This diagnostic procedure follows a two-step diagnostics scheme, recommended by the WHO. Results: 18/33 samples tested positive, 11/33 tested negative for MERS-CoV RNA and 2/33 showed uncertain results. Conclusion: The results suggest, that the RealStar® MERS-CoV (N gene) RT-PCR kit 1.0 can be considered a suitable and reliable confirmatory assay in combination with the RealStar MERS-CoV RT-PCR kit 1.0 according to the diagnostic scheme recommended by WHO.


1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1313-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. C. Sheridan ◽  
C. I. Masters ◽  
J. A. Shallcross ◽  
B. M. Mackey

ABSTRACT The relationship between the detection of mRNA and cellular viability in Escherichia coli was investigated in cells killed by heat or ethanol. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) methods were developed for detecting mRNA from rpoH,groEL, and tufA genes. mRNA from all three genes was detected immediately after the cells had been killed by heat or ethanol but gradually disappeared with time when dead cells were held at room temperature. In heat-killed cells, some mRNA targets became undetectable after 2 to 16 h, whereas after ethanol treatment, mRNA was still detected after 16 h. In contrast, 16S rRNA was detected by RT-PCR in all samples containing dead cells and did not disappear during a subsequent incubation of 16 h at room temperature. Of the different types of nucleic acid, mRNA is the most promising candidate for an indicator of viability in bacteria, but its persistence in dead cells depends on the inactivating treatment and subsequent holding conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2055-2066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong-Yu Ko ◽  
Zong-Lin Chiang ◽  
Ruo-Jyun Liao ◽  
Zih-Ting Chang ◽  
Ju-Chun Chang ◽  
...  

AbstractSince 2016, Apis cerana sacbrood virus (AcSBV) has been recorded in Taiwan. It is epizootic in Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and causing serious loss of A. cerana. Herein, we performed a long-term survey of AcSBV prevalence in the populations of A. cerana in Northern Taiwan from January 2017 to July 2018. The surveillance of AcSBV prevalence in A. mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) populations was starting and further confirmed by sequencing since April 2017; thus, these data were also included in this survey. In our survey, the average prevalence rates of AcSBV were 72 and 53% in A. cerana and A. mellifera, respectively, in 2017, which decreased to 45 and 27% in 2018. For the spatial analysis of AcSBV in two honey bee populations, Hsinchu showed the highest prevalence, followed by New Taipei, Yilan, Taipei, and Keelung, suggesting that AcSBV might have come from the southern part of Taiwan. Interestingly, the AcSBV prevalence rates from A. cerana and A. mellifera cocultured apiaries gradually synchronized. The result of phylogenetic analysis and comparison of the annual AcSBV prevalence in A. cerana-only, A. mellifera-only, and A. cerana/A. mellifera cocultured sample sites indicate cross-infection between A. cerana and A. mellifera; however, AcSBV may lose the advantage of virulence in A. mellifera. The evidence suggested that the transmission of AcSBV might occur among these two honey bee species in the field. Therefore, A. mellifera may serve as a guard species to monitor AcSBV in A. cerana, but the cross-infection still needs to be surveyed.


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