Molecular characterization of Brazilian avian pneumovirus isolates: comparison between immunochemiluminescent Southern blot and nested PCR

Avian pneumovirus (APV) causes acute respiratory tract infection both in tu rkeys (turkey rhinotracheitis) and chickens (swollen head syndrome (SHS)) w ith sudden onset and rapid spread through the flocks. In this study, an imm unochemiluminescent Southern blot RT-PCR assay was employed to detect a F g ene transcript of the APV in two European turkey isolates and two Brazilian chicken isolates. Limiting dilution PCR was carried out to compare the sen sitivity of immunochemiluminescent Southern blot assay and nested PCR assay (nPCR). The sensitivity and specificity of immunochemiluminescent Southern blot RT-PCR assay were comparable to that of nPCR, and at least 100 fold m ore sensitive than a single PCR amplification. Sequence analysis of the 175 bp product of the F gene revealed 100% identity with APV sequences describ ed earlier. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.