Detection and characterization of rabies virus in Southern Brazil by PCR amplification and sequencing of the nucleoprotein gene.
Due to the medical and socio-economical importance of both human and animal rabies infection, several studies have suggested the use of molecular techniques such as RT-PCR and DNA sequencing for diagnosis and phylogenetic studies of the rabies virus. Considering the conservancy of the nucleoprotein (N) gene of the virus, we herein describe a RT-PCR assay for rabies diagnosis and characterization. A total of 75 samples obtained from a variety of animal species in the state of Santa Catarina (SC), Southern Brazil, were comparatively studied by fluorescence antibody test (FAT), mouse inoculation test (MIT), cell infection assay and RT-PCR, which revealed itself to be as sensitive as FAT and MIT and less time-consuming than MIT. Direct sequencing of the 5' end of the N gene allowed the clustering of the SC samples with samples from the vampire bat-related or sylvatic cycle through comparative sequence analysis.
Bordignon
J
J
Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
Brasil-Dos-Anjos
G
G
Bueno
C R
CR
Salvatiera-Oporto
J
J
Dávila
A M R
AM
Grisard
E C
EC
Zanetti
C R
CR
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D002417:Cattle; D005843:Geography; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D009698:Nucleoproteins; D014764:Viral Proteins