title: Definitive identification of louping ill virus by RT-PCR and sequencing in field populations of Ixodes ricinus on the Lochindorb estate.
abstract: Rapid and precise virus detection procedures are an important component of any epizootiological study. An automated one tube reverse transcriptase and nested primer polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by nucleotide sequencing of the cDNA product, was used for the rapid detection and identification of louping ill (LI) virus in field caught Ixodes ricinus and compared with a classical isolation method i.e. infectivity in cell culture. The results establish the genetic identity of LI virus on the Lochindorb Estate. There was a high correlation between the results obtained by RT-PCR and infectivity assays. RT-PCR and sequencing proved to be a rapid and accurate system for identifying LI virus in field specimens. Development of this system should improve the capacity to undertake detailed epizootiological studies of LI virus.
authors.affiliation: NERC, Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Gaunt
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laurenson
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Gould
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D001483:Base Sequence; D006224:Cricetinae; D004279:DNA, Viral; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018884:Ixodes / Q000821:virology*; D008647:Mesocricetus; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C076634:NEG envelope glycoprotein, Negishi virus