title: Performance of single-step gel-based reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays equivalent to that of real-time RT-PCR assays for detection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus.
abstract: Simple gel-based one-step reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays, used to investigate patients during the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Singapore, were found to be as sensitive as commercial and in-house real-time RT-PCR assays. The detection limit was approximately 1 genome equivalent (GE) per 5 microl PCR mixture. One PFU of SARS coronavirus was estimated to be 258 +/- 46 GE.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Proteos, Singapore 138673. mcbim@imcb.a-star.edu.sg
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Barkham
authors.forename: Lee Kok
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Keong
authors.forename: Lim Seng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Gee
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wanjin
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity