title: Restriction endonuclease analysis of Marek's disease virus DNA: differentiation of viral strains and determination of passage history.
abstract: The restriction endonuclease (RE) patterns of DNA from serotype 1 Marek's disease viruses (MDVs) are unique to serotype 1 viruses and can also be used to differentiate between low and high cell-culture-passaged viruses. We compared the RE patterns of DNA from seven serotype 2 and 3 MDVs before and after serial in vitro passage. Passage of four serotype 2 strains resulted in a variety of changes in the RE pattern. Individual strains within a serotype exhibited unique restriction patterns that allowed individual isolates to be differentiated. In a similar manner, the serotype 3 virus strains displayed RE pattern variations that were unique to each strain, as well as differences between low and high cell-culture passage. Our findings, together with earlier reports, suggest that the RE patterns of MDV DNA provide a simple and accurate method to: 1) differentiate between the three MDV serotypes, 2) differentiate between virus strains within a serotype, and 3) determine whether the viruses have been passaged extensively in cell culture.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Barnett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI; D015246:Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; D008381:Herpesvirus 2, Gallid / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI; D015246:Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; C018492:GCCNNNNNGGC-specific type II deoxyribonucleases