DETECTION OF BOVINE HERPESVIRUS-1 (BHV-1) GENOMIC SEQUENCES IN BOVINESEMEN INOCULATED WITH BHV-1 BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was applied to detect BHV-1 in bovine semen inoculated with BHV-1. The technique was found to be 1 0(6) times more sensitive than a non-isotopic dot-blot hybridization m ethod in detecting viral genomic DNA. Of the three primer pairs used, the one chosen from glycoprotein gC appeared to be most sensitive as i t could detect up to 0.01 TCID50 of BHV-1 in the semen. The technique could be useful in screening breeding bulls or samples of frozen semen prior to use in artificial insemination.