DETECTION OF ADENOVIRUS IN THE WATERS OF THE SEINE-RIVER ESTUARY BY NESTED-PCR

Several systems for isolating viruses from environmental samples have been tested. The most promising method is based on genomic amplificati on. The authors attempted to detect adenovirus in nucleic-acid extract s from the Seine River estuary by a two-step amplification of a 220-bp segment of the conserved coding region of type 2 adenovirus hexon pro tein L3. The primers used in this study detected the most prevalent ad enovirus serotypes in human disease in France, but not other virus str ains or bacteria. The sensitivity of the nested polymerase chain react ion (PCR) amplification was estimated to be 10(2) copies of the adenov irus target sequence per mi of Seine River water. Nucleic-acid extract s from Seine River estuary waters were analysed and some tested positi ve for the presence of adenoviruses. (C) 1998 Academic Press.