Bovine tuberculosis has been tackled for decades by costly eradication programs in most developed countries, involving the laboratory testing of tissue samples from allegedly infected animals for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) members, namely Mycobacterium bovis. Definitive diagnosis is usually achieved by bacteriological culture, which may take up to 6-12 weeks, during w...

The spreading of viral RNA within Swiss Albino mice orally inoculated with coxsackievirus B4 E2 strain (CVB4 E2) was studied by using RT-PCR and semi-nested-RT-PCR methods. Viral RNA was detected in various organs: pancreas, heart, small intestine, spleen, thymus, and blood at various postinfectious (p.i.) times ranging from 8 hr to 150 days. Our results show that (i) outbred mice can be infect...

The systematic sequencing of cDNA libraries is an efficient approach for the identification of new genes, but the presence of abundant mRNAs is often a major problem. This paper describes a very simple method of "semi-multiplex PCR" that allows specific identification of such abundant transcripts before DNA sequencing without using nonrepresentative subtracted libraries. The PCR utilizes a seri...

The use of reverse transcription (RT) PCR for relative quantitation of gene transcripts relies on the reproducibility of the individual RT, PCR and product measurement steps. Semi-competitive RT-PCR (RT-cPCR) uses an internal competitor template in the PCR step to improve quantitation. We have surveyed the reproducibility of RT, PCR, RT-cPCR and measurement, amplifying the glyceraldehyde-3-phos...

BACKGROUND Erythrocyte Duffy blood group negativity reaches fixation in African populations where Plasmodium vivax (Pv) is uncommon. While it is known that Duffy-negative individuals are highly resistant to Pv erythrocyte infection, little is known regarding Pv susceptibility among heterozygous carriers of a Duffy-negative allele (+/-). Our limited knowledge of the selective advantages or disad...

Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are the major cause of the common cold. HRVs were recently reclassified into the Enterovirus genus (HEV) in the Picornaviridae family. HRVs and other members of the HEV genus share many common features, including sense RNA genomes and partial nucleotide sequence identity. The aim of this study was to evaluate different HRV detection strategies. Samples from adults with...

Thyroid hormones has its main role in controlling metabolism, but it can also modulate extracellular fluid Volume (ECFV) through its action on the expression and activity of Na(+) transporters. Otherwise, chloride is the main anion in the ECFV and the influence of thyroid hormones in the regulation of chloride transporters is not yet understood. In this work, we studied the effect of thyroid ho...

Canine coronavirus (CCV) and canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) are the causative agents of gastroenteritis in dogs. Seventy fecal samples from dogs with signs of gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea), twenty-five fecal samples from healthy dogs and one CPV-2 vaccine strain were amplified by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and semi-nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain react...