title: Polymerase chain reaction amplification of the thymidine kinase and protein kinase-related genes of channel catfish virus and a putative pilchard herpesvirus.
abstract: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification assays were developed for the detection of thymidine kinase (TK) and protein kinase (PK)-related genes of the channel catfish virus (CCV). Two pairs of primers were constructed based on the published nucleotide sequences of CCV and were used to amplify the expected fragments of 584 and 755 bp for the TK and PK-related genes, respectively. The amplified fragments were shown to be specific for each of the target genes by chemiluminescence Southern blot hybridisation with a digoxigenin-labelled 20-base internal probe. The optimised CCV PCR assay can be used to amplify TK- and PK-related genes in other mammalian and avian herpesviruses. The CCV TK PCR assay also amplified a TK-like gene in some pilchard's gills and tissues obtained in the recent epizootic of pilchard kills in New Zealand.
authors.affiliation: Virology Section, MAF Quality Management, Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Tham
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Moon
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D007059:Ictaluridae / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000235:genetics*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D013937:Thymidine Kinase