AMPLIFICATION OF AVIAN REOVIRUS RNA USING THE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE-POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction method was developed for the detection of avian reovirus. The origin of primers was From t he S1 gene of tile avian reovirus genome. A reovirus-specific 532-base pair cDNA product was amplified by these primers from six reference s trains and 23 field isolates of avian reoviruses, but nor from seven d ifferent avian pathogenic viruses and bacteria. As little as 1 pg of a vian reovirus RNA was detected using gel electrophoresis and Southern blot hybridization.