Detection of foot-and-mouth disease viral genomic sequences by nucleic acid hybridization: an approach to the diagnosis of persistent infection.

BERGMANN, I.E; MALIRAT, V.; AUGÉ DE MELLO, P.; GOMES, I.

BOLETIN DEL CENTRO PANAMERICANO DE FIEBRE AFTOSA

Año: 1993 vol. 59 p. 136 - 140

0009-0131

A standardized hybridization assay was developed, capable of detecting foot-and-mouth disease viral (FMDV) genomic sequences in samples from infected cell cultures or oesophageal-pharyngeal fluids (OP). The assay is based on the use of a labeled DNA probe complementary to the FMDV polymerase coding region. The probe was obtained by amplifying in E. coli a plasmid containing the complementary DNA (cDNA) fragment corresponding to the region from 6.3 to 7.8 kilobases of the FMDV genome. Because of the high degree of nucleic acid sequence homology in this part of the genome, detection of the three South American serotypes was possible in a single hybridization assay. The considerable potential of this method as an adjunct to conventional procedures for diagnosis of persistent infection was revealed by the positive results obtained with OP fluid samples from experimentally infected cattle at late stages of the infection, during which virus recovery was mainly negative.