title: Neuraminidase subtyping of avian influenza viruses with PrimerHunter-designed primers and quadruplicate primer pools.
abstract: We have previously developed a software package called PrimerHunter to design primers for PCR-based virus subtyping. In this study, 9 pairs of primers were designed with PrimerHunter and successfully used to differentiate the 9 neuraminidase (NA) genes of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in multiple PCR-based assays. Furthermore, primer pools were designed and successfully used to decrease the number of reactions needed for NA subtyping from 9 to 4. The quadruplicate primer-pool method is cost-saving, and was shown to be suitable for the NA subtyping of both cultured AIVs and uncultured AIV swab samples. The primers selected for this study showed excellent sensitivity and specificity in NA subtyping by RT-PCR, SYBR green-based Real-time PCR and Real-time RT-PCR methods. AIV RNA of 2 to 200 copies (varied by NA subtypes) could be detected by these reactions. No unspecific amplification was displayed when detecting RNAs of other avian infectious viruses such as Infectious bronchitis virus, Infectious bursal disease virus and Newcastle disease virus. In summary, this study introduced several sensitive and specific PCR-based assays for NA subtyping of AIVs and also validated again the effectiveness of the PrimerHunter tool for the design of subtyping primers.
authors: Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America ; Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
authors: Yanyan
authors: Y
authors: Huang
authors: Mazhar I
authors: MI
authors: Khan
authors: Mazhar
authors: M
authors: Khan
authors: Ion
authors: I
authors: Măndoiu
authors: Ion I
authors: II
authors: Măndoiu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001717:Birds; D017931:DNA Primers; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009439:Neuraminidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D009439:Neuraminidase