Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a very powerful tool for qualitative evaluation of nucleic acids due to its high efficiency and convenience. Together with the reverse transcription (RT) reaction, the PCR method has been widely applied to the quantitative measurement of DNA and RNA messages. Since RT-PCR is much more sensitive than all of the traditional methods for quantification of mRNA, in...

UNLABELLED Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boed, the causative agent of Curvularia leaf spot in maize, was determined according to conidiophore and conidium morphology in a previous study. In the current study, a sensitive polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for the detection of C. lunata. Two specific forward (ClgD1/ClgD2) and one reverse primers (ClgD3) were designed based on a Ras-relat...

This study used real-time PCR assays to screen small sample volumes for a comprehensive range of 35 respiratory pathogens. Initial thermocycling was limited to 20 cycles to avoid competition for reagents, followed by a secondary real-time multiplex PCR. Supplementary semi-nested human metapneumovirus and picornavirus PCR assays were required to complete the acute respiratory pathogen profile. P...

Background: Human rotavirus (HRV) is the causative agent of severe gastroenteritis in children and responsible for two million hospitalizations and more than a half-million deaths annually. Sequence characteristics of the gene segments encoding the VP7 and VP4 proteins are used for the genotype classification of rotavirus. A wide variety of molecular methods are available, mainly based on rever...

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) constitutes a potentially valuable diagnostic tool for rapid diagnosis of contagious diseases. In this study, we developed a novel LAMP method (seM-LAMP) to detect the seM gene of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi (S. equi), the causative agent of strangles in equids. The seM-LAMP successfully amplified the target sequence of the seM gene at 63°C withi...