Novel Polymerase Spiral Reaction (PSR) for rapid visual detection of Bovine Herpesvirus 1 genomic DNA from aborted bovine fetus and semen.
Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV 1) is a major viral pathogen affecting bovines leading to various clinical manifestations and causes significant economic impediment in modern livestock production system. Rapid, accurate and sensitive detection of BHV 1 infection at frozen semen stations or at dairy herds remains a priority for control of BHV 1 spread to susceptible population. Polymerase Spiral Reaction (PSR) a novel addition in the gamut of isothermal techniques, has been successfully implemented in initial optimization for detection of BHV 1 genomic DNA and further validated in clinical samples. The developed PSR assay has been validated for detection of BHV 1 from bovine semen (n=99) a major source of transmission of BHV 1 from breeding bulls to susceptible dams in artificial insemination programs. The technique has also been used for screening of BHV 1 DNA from suspected aborted fetal tissues (n=25) The developed PSR technique is 100 fold more sensitive than conventional PCR and comparable to real time PCR. The PSR technique has been successful in detecting 13 samples positive for BHV 1 DNA in bovine semen, 4 samples more than conventional PCR. The aborted fetal tissues were negative for presence of BHV 1 DNA. The presence of BHV 1 in bovine semen samples raises a pertinent concern for extensively screening of semen from breeding bulls before been used for artificial insemination process. PSR has all the attributes for becoming a method of choice for rapid, accurate and sensitive detection of BHV 1 DNA at frozen semen stations or at dairy herds in resource constrained settings.
Gene