GENOMIC SEQUENCES OF BOVINE PAPILLOMAVIRUSES IN FORMALIN-FIXED SARCOIDS FROM AUSTRALIAN HORSES REVEALED BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Seventy six formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sarcoids from 62 Australi an horses, collected over a ten year period, were examined for the pre sence of genomic sequences from bovine papillomavirus 1 and 2 (BPV1, B PV2) with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Sequences that could be amplified by primers specific for BPV1 and BPV2 were present in 56 of the 76 sarcoids (73%). A restriction site present in BPV1 and absent from BPV2 was detected in 28 of 34 amplified products that were treate d with endonuclease.