• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.60 no.4
• /
• pp.295-299
• /
• 2022

Malaria elimination and control require prompt and accurate diagnosis for treatment plan. Since microscopy and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) are not sensitive particularly for diagnosing low parasitemia, highly sensitive diagnostic tools are required for accurate treatment. Molecular diagnosis of malaria is commonly carried out by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting 18S rRNA gene, while this technique involves long turnaround time and multiple steps leading to false positive results. To overcome these drawbacks, we compared highly sensitive cytochrome oxidase gene-based single-step multiplex reaction with 18S rRNA nested PCR. Cytochrome oxidase (cox) genes of P. falciparum (cox-III) and P. vivax (cox-I) were compared with 18S rRNA gene nested PCR and microscopy. Cox gene multiplex PCR was found to be highly specific and sensitive, enhancing the detection limit of mixed infections. Cox gene multiplex PCR showed a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 97%. This approach can be used as an alternative diagnostic method as it offers higher diagnostic performance and is amenable to high throughput scaling up for a larger sample size at low cost.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.96 no.5
• /
• pp.585-590
• /
• 2007

Rhizina undulata is the fungus, which causes Rhizina root rot on coniferous trees. Nested-PCR using ITS-specific primer was applied to detect R. undulata from the soils of Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergil) forests infested with the disease in Seocheon, Chungnam Province, South Korea. Soil samples were collected from four different sites, both dead trees and fruit bodies of R. undulata were present, dead trees only present, fruit bodies only present, and both were absent. Nested-PCR products specific to R. undulata ITS-region were amplified. Positive reactions were found in some samples from the sites, where dead trees and fruit bodies of R. undulata were absent as well as where both of those were present. R. undulata was mainly detected in the soil samples from the depth of 5~20 cm under the soil surface. These results show that the nested-PCR could be used to diagnose the presence or potential infestation of R. undulata in the soils of pine forests.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.293-297
• /
• 2009

Improved methods for detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in environmental and clinical samples are urgently needed to improve detection of cryptosporidiosis. We compared the sensitivity of 7 PCR primer sets for detection of Cryptosporidium parvum. Each target gene was amplified by PCR or nested PCR with serially diluted DNA extracted from purified C. parvum oocysts. The target genes included Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP), small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA), and random amplified polymorphic DNA. The detection limit of the PCR method ranged from $10^3$ to $10^4$ oocysts, and the nested PCR method was able to detect $10^0$ to $10^2$ oocysts. A second-round amplification of target genes showed that the nested primer set specific for the COWP gene proved to be the most sensitive one compared to the other primer sets tested in this study and would therefore be useful for the detection of C. parvum.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.33-38
• /
• 2010

We have successfully applied the nested PCR to detect Cylindrocarpon destructans, a major pathogen causing root rot disease from ginseng seedlings in our former study. The PCR assay, in this study, was used to detect the pathogen from soils. The nested PCR using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1, 4 primer set and Dest 1, 4 primer set maintained the specificity in soils containing various microorganisms. For a soil DNA extraction method targeting chlamydospores, when several cell wall disrupting methods were tested, the combination of lyophilization and grinding with glass beads, which broke almost all the chlamydospores, was the strongest. The DNA extraction method which was completed based on the above was simple and time-saving because of exclusion of unnecessary stages, and efficient to apply in soils. As three ginseng fields whose histories were known were analyzed, the PCR assay resulted as our expectation derived from the field information. The direct PCR method will be utilized as a reliable and rapid tool for detecting and monitoring C. destructans in ginseng fields.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.143.2-143
• /
• 2003

A rapid and sensitive assay for the specific detection of plant viroids using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) has been developed already. The nested RT-PCR assay cloud be applied for the detection of apple scar skin viroid(ASSVd) from young leaves and other tissues. ASSVd has central conserved region(CCR), terminal left(T$\sub$L/) and terminal right(T$\sub$R/) domain. Primers were designed from these regions. Primer sets were successfully applicable for the amplification of full length or partial region of ASSVd by nested RT-PCR. Nested RT-PCR assay was more sensitive and accurate method to detect ASSVd from young trees during the early time of apple cultivation.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.65-68
• /
• 2017

Barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV), which is transmitted by the root-inhabiting protist Polymyxa graminis, causes a soil-borne disease. In this study, we detected BaYMV from soil using two-step nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Specific primers based on a coat protein region of BaYMV segment RNA1 were used in the first round of amplification. Based on the sequenced amplicon, an inner primer was designed for the second round of amplification. A PCR product of 372 bp exhibited 98%-100% nucleotide sequence identity with the coat protein region of BaYMV segment RNA1. In this study, we propose an easy method for the detection of BaYMV from soil, may considerably assist in accurate fungus-transmitted virus diagnosis and subsequent disease forecasting. This is the first report on the detection of BaYMV from soil.

• Journal of Apiculture
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.15-26
• /
• 2019

Tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi) is an internal parasite that is parasitic on the bronchus of adult bees and sucks fluid from the trachea. Since its first report by Rennie, it has been spread throughout Europe and in some Asian regions, with adjacent Japan and China reported in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Korea detected specific genes of A. woodi in 2015, but only one of 99 samples has been identified and the being of A. woodi has not been confirmed. In this study, we established a specific nested PCR method to confirm for detecting low-copy number of A. woodi-specific gene in bee samples. As a result, A. woodi-specific COI gene was amplified in 15 of 23 samples, and they were judged positive by melting point analysis and sequencing analysis. Although we could not observe the existence of the mites in bees, our results suggest that tracheal mit might exist in nature.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.329-337
• /
• 2007

An enrichment semi-nested PCR procedure was developed for detection of Clostridium botulinum types A, B, E, and F. It was applied to sediment samples to examine the prevalence of C. botulinum in the Korean environment. The first pair of primers for the semi-nested PCR was designed using a region shared by the types A, B, E, and F neurotoxin gene sequences, and the second round employed four nested primers complementary to the BoNT/A, /B, /E, and /F encoding genes for simultaneous detection of the four serotypes. Positive results were obtained from the PCR analysis of five of 44 sediments (11%) collected from Yeong-am Lake in Korea; all were identified as deriving from type B neurotoxin (bontb) genes. Two of the C. botulinum type B organisms were isolated, and their bontb genes sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequences of BoNT/B showed 99.5 and 99.8% identity with the amino acid sequence of accession no. AB084152. Our data suggest that semi-nested PCR is a useful tool for detecting C. botulinum in sediments, and renders it practicable to conduct environmental surveys.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.414-422
• /
• 2016

Eucalyptus dieback disease, caused by Cylindrocladium scoparium, has occurred in last few years in large Eucalyptus planting areas in China and other countries. Rapid, simple, and reliable diagnostic techniques are desired for the early detection of Eucalyptus dieback of C. scoparium prior to formulation of efficient control plan. For this purpose, three PCR-based methods of nested PCR, multiplex PCR, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) were developed for detection of C. scoparium based on factor 1-alpha (tef1) and beta-tubulin gene in this study. All of the three methods showed highly specific to C. scoparium. The sensitivities of the nested PCR and LAMP were much higher than the multiplex PCR. The sensitivity of multiplex PCR was also higher than regular PCR. C. scoparium could be detected within 60 min from infected Eucalyptus plants by LAMP, while at least 2 h was needed by the rest two methods. Using different Eucalyptus tissues as samples for C. scoparium detection, all of the three PCR-based methods showed much better detection results than regular PCR. Base on the results from this study, we concluded that any of the three PCR-based methods could be used as diagnostic technology for the development of efficient strategies of Eucalyptus dieback disease control. Particularly, LAMP was the most practical method in field application because of its one-step and rapid reaction, simple operation, single-tube utilization, and simple visualization of amplification products.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.430-436
• /
• 2005

In this study, the prevalence and quantity of a latent pseudorabies virus (PrV) infection in the nervous tissues of randomly selected pigs was determined via nested and real-time PCR. The nervous tissues, including the trigeminal ganglion (TG), olfactory bulb (OB), and brain stem (BS), were collected from the heads of 40 randomly selected pigs. The majority of the nervous tissues from the selected pigs evidenced a positively amplified band on nested PCR. In particular, nested PCR targeted to the PrV glycoprotein B (gB) gene yielded positive results in all of the BS samples. Nested PCR for either the gE or gG gene produced positive bands in a less number of nervous tissues ($57.5\%$ and $42.5\%$, respectively). Real-time PCR revealed that the examined tissues harbored large copy numbers of latent PrV DNA, ranging between $10^{0.1}\;and\;10^{7.2}(1-1.58{\times}10^7)$ copies per $1{\mu}g$ of genomic DNA. Real-time PCR targeted to the PrV gE gene exhibited an accumulated fluorescence of reporter dye at levels above threshold, thereby indicating a higher prevalence than was observed on the nested PCR ($100\%$ for BS, $92\%$ for OB, and $85\%$ for TG). These results indicate that a large number of farm-grown pigs are latently infected with a field PrV strain with a variety of copy numbers. This result is similar to what was found in association with the human herpes virus.