DETECTION OF PSEUDORABIES VIRUS IN SEMEN OF BOARS BY A POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

The aim of the present study was to specify the experimental condition s for the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of the pseudorabies virus in boar semen. Boar semen was artificially c ontaminated by Aujeszky's disease virus and submitted to the PCR. The seminal plasma fraction of the semen was found inhibitory for PCR. An incubation of the samples with proteinase K followed by an extraction of the viral DNA on a glass matrix was shown to be able to remove the inhibition. The method was simple, rapid and allowed the detection of around 370 viral DNA sequences per microliter of sample. The detection of the amplified DNA by a specific enzymatically labelled probe could improve the sensitivity of the method.