DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID, NONRADIOACTIVE, OLIGONUCLEOTIDE-BASED ASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF SETARIA-DIGITATA

Setaria species are filarial parasites which inhabit the peritoneal ca vity of cattle and other ungulates. The parasite is generally consider ed to be nonpathogenic in its natural hosts, but the transmission of t he infective larvae through mosquito vectors to its abnormal hosts (go ats, sheep, or horses) can result in a serious and often fatal neuropa thological disorder commonly referred to as cerebrospinal nematodiasis . We have previously described the cloning and characterization of a r epetitive DNA sequence of Setaria digitata that could be used as a dia gnostic probe to detect the parasite in host and vector populations. H ere we report the development of a rapid nonradioactive hybridization assay using an oligonucleotide probe based on the above cloned repetit ive sequence. (C) 1997 Academic Press.