• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.197-200
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• 2003

In order to establish effective in situ PCR on the glass slide using the conventional DNA thermal cycler, several parameters should be considered. These include full accessibility of PCR reagents into the cells, prevention of diffusing PCR products out of the cells, loss of PCR reagents by nonspecific adherence onto the glass slide, dryness of PCR reagents by heat, and heat conductivity from the heat block to the glass slide. Especially, to guarantee the full accessibility of PCR reagents to sample, relatively higher concentration of PCR reagents (particularly 4.5 mM of $Mg^{++}$) was required while 5 to 10 units/50 ${\mu}l$ reaction of Taq enzyme was enough as long as the step of pre-PCR incubation was included. Dryness of sample was prevented by addition of distilled water into the empty slots in the heat block, thereby providing the reproducible temperature-time profile of PCR. Observed temperature was lower than the programmed temperature by 3 to $4^{\circ}C$.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2017

Background: We evaluated a sensitive and quantitative method utilizing fragment analysis of the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD), simultaneously measuring mutant allele burden and length, and verified the analytical performance. Methods: The number and allelic burden of FLT3-ITD mutations was determined by fragment analysis. Serial mixtures of mutant and wild-type plasmid DNA were used to calculate the limit of detection of fragment analysis, conventional PCR, and Sanger sequencing. Specificity was evaluated using DNA samples derived from 50 normal donors. Results of fragment analysis were compared to those of conventional PCR, using 481 AML specimens. Results: Defined mixtures were consistently and accurately identified by fragment analysis at a 5% relative concentration of mutant to wild-type, and at 10% and 20% ratios by conventional PCR and direct sequencing, respectively. No false positivity was identified. Among 481 AML specimens, 40.1% (193/481) had FLT3-ITD mutations. The mutant allele burden (1.7-94.1%; median, 28.2%) and repeated length of the mutation (14-153 bp; median, 49 bp) were variable. The concordance rate between fragment analysis and conventional PCR was 97.7% (470/481). Fragment analysis was more sensitive than conventional PCR and detected 11 additional cases: seven had mutations below 10%, three cases represented conventional PCR failure, and one case showed false negativity because of short ITD length (14 bp). Conclusions: The new fragment analysis method proved to be sensitive and reliable for the detection and monitoring of FLT3-ITD in patients with AML. This could be used to simultaneously assess ITD mutant allele burden and length.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.321-331
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• 2011

Mycobacterium bovis, a member of the M. tuberculosis complex (MTC), is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis. Detection of M. bovis and M. tuberculosis using conventional culture- and biochemical-based assays is time-consuming. Therefore, a simple and sensitive molecular assay for rapid detection would be of great help in specific situations such as faster diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infection in the abattoirs. We developed a novel multiplex real-time PCR assay which was applied directly to biological samples with evidence of bTB and it was allowed to differentiate between M. bovis and M. tuberculosis. The primers and TaqMan probes were designed to target the IS1081 gene, the multi-copy insertion element in the MTC and the 12.7-kb fragment which presents in M. tuberculosis, not in the M. bovis genome. The assay was optimized and validated by testing 10 species of mycobacteria including M. bovis and M. tuberculosis, and 10 other bacterial species such as Escherichia coli, and cattle lymph nodes (n=113). The tests identified 96.4% (27/28) as M. bovis from the MTC-positive bTB samples using conventional PCR for specific insertion elements IS1081. And MTC-negative bTB samples (n=85) were tested using conventional PCR and the real-time PCR. When comparative analyses were conducted on all bovine samples, using conventional PCR as the gold standard, the relative accuracy of real-time PCR was 99.1%, the relative specificity was 100%, and the agreement quotient (kappa) was 0.976. The detection limits of the real-time PCR assays for M. bovis and M. tuberculosis genomic DNA were 10 fg and 0.1 pg per PCR reaction, respectively. Consequently, this multiplex real-time PCR assay is a useful diagnotic tool for the identification of MTC and differentiation of M. bovis and M. tuberculosis, as well as the epidemiologic surveillance of animals slaughtered in abattoir.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.348-352
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• 2005

We described a rapid, sensitive and reproducible real-time PCR assay for detection and quantitation of canine parvovirus type 2 in the feces of dogs with parvovirus infection. The method was demonstrated to be highly specific and sensitive, allowing a precise canine parvovirus type-2 quantitation over range of eight orders of magnitude from $10^2\;to\;10^9$ copies of standard DNA. Then, fecal samples from parvovirus infected dogs were analyzed by conventional PCR and real-time PCR. Real-time PCR is more sensitive than conventional PCR, allowing to detect low viral titers of CPV-2 in infected dogs. By real-time PCR, a wide range of parvovirus particles was found in the samples from $1.45\times10^6\;to\;9.45\times10^8$ copies/0.01g of feces. However, when dogs are in infection of parvovirus, it is difficult to prove that the numbers of peripheral blood leukocytes are correlated with those of fecal shedding virus.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) is a major coronavirus that infects humans with human Coronavirus (HuCoV)-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-NL63, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). SARS-CoV2 is currently a global pandemic pathogen. In this study, we developed conventional RT-PCR based diagnostic system for the detection of SARS-CoV2 which is relatively inexpensive but has high stability and a wide range of users. Three conventional RT-PCR primer sets capable of forming specific band sizes by targeting the ORF1ab [232 nucleotide (nt)], E (200 nt) and N (288 nt) genes of SARS-CoV2 were developed, respectively, and it were confirmed to be about 10~100 times higher detection sensitivity than the previously reported methods. In addition, a standard positive control that can generate specific amplicons by reacting with the developed RT-PCR primers and verify the false-positiv from contamination of the laboratory was produced. Therefore, the diagnostic system that uses the RT-PCR method is expected to be used to detect SARS-CoV2.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2016

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is produced by Aspergillus flavus growing in feedstuffs. Early detection of maize contamination by aflatoxigenic fungi is advantageous since aflatoxins exert adverse health effects. In this study, we report the development of an optimized conventional PCR for AFB1 detection and a rapid, sensitive and simple screening Real-time PCR (qPCR) with SYBR Green and two pairs of primers targeting the aflR genes which involved aflatoxin biosynthesis. AFB1 contaminated maize samples were divided into three groups by the toxin concentration. Genomic DNA was extracted from those samples. The target genes for A. flavus were tested by conventional PCR and the PCR products were analyzed by electrophoresis. A conventional PCR was carried out as nested PCR to verify the gene amplicon sizes. PCR-RFLP patterns, obtained with Hinc II and Pvu II enzyme analysis showed the differences to distinguish aflatoxin-producing fungi. However, they are not quantitative and need a separation of the products on gel and their visualization under UV light. On the other hand, qPCR facilitates the monitoring of the reaction as it progresses. It does not require post-PCR handling, which reduces the risk of cross-contamination and handling errors. It results in a much faster throughout. We found that the optimal primer annealing temperature was $65^{\circ}C$. The optimized template and primer concentration were $1.5{\mu}L\;(50ng/{\mu}L)$ and $3{\mu}L\;(10{\mu}M/{\mu}L)$ respectively. SYBR Green qPCR of four genes demonstrated amplification curves and melting peaks for tub1, afIM, afIR, and afID genes are at $88.0^{\circ}C$, $87.5^{\circ}C$, $83.5^{\circ}C$, and $89.5^{\circ}C$ respectively. Consequently, it was found that the four primers had elevated annealing temperatures, nevertheless it is desirable since it enhances the DNA binding specificity of the dye. New qPCR protocol could be employed for the determination of aflatoxin content in feedstuff samples.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2015

Recently, noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) has been adopted as a primary screening tool for fetal chromosomal aneuploidy. The principle of NIPT lies in isolating the fetal fraction of cell-free DNA in maternal plasma and analyzing it with bioinformatic tools to measure the amount of gene from the target chromosome, such as chromosomes 21, 18, and 13. NIPT will contribute to decreasing the need for unnecessary invasive procedures, including amniocentesis and chorionic villi sampling, for confirming fetal aneuploidy because of its higher positive predictive value than that of the conventional prenatal screening method. However, its greater cost than that of the current antenatal screening protocol may be an obstacle to the adoption of this innovative technique in clinical practice. Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is a novel approach for detecting and quantifying nucleic acid. dPCR provides real-time diagnostic advantages with higher sensitivity, accuracy, and absolute quantification than conventional quantitative PCR. Since the groundbreaking discovery that fetal cell-free nucleic acid exists in maternal plasma was reported, dPCR has been used for the quantification of fetal DNA and for screening for fetal aneuploidy. It has been suggested that dPCR will decrease the cost by targeting specific sequences in the target chromosome, and dPCR-based noninvasive testing will facilitate progress toward the implementation of a noninvasive approach for screening for trisomy 21, 18, and 13. In this review, we highlight the principle of dPCR and discuss its future implications in clinical practice.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of conventional culture and real-time PCR for detection of Cronobacter spp. in powdered foods. Infant formula, baby food and Misugaru inoculated with Cronobacter were enriched in distilled water as first enrichment step, followed by incubating in Enterobacteriaceae enrichment (EE) broth as second enrichment step. A loopful of enriched sample was streaked onto Druggan-Forsythe-Iversen agar, followed by incubating at $37^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. One milliliter of the enriched distilled water and EE broth were used in real-time PCR assay. No statistical differences were observed in the number of positive samples between culture method and real-time PCR (p>0.05) in all types of food samples. The number of positives of real-time PCR was higher in the first enrichment media (distilled water) than the second enrichment media (EE broth), though there was no significant difference (p>0.05). It appears that some components of the second enrichment broth, EE broth, inhibit the reaction of real-time PCR. These results show that real-time PCR using a single enrichment with distilled water could be useful as an effective screening method for detection of Cronobacter while saving much time and labor compared to conventional culture method.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.139-146
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• 2014

Accurate and rapid diagnosis of dermatophytosis, a disease whose prevalence has been steadily increased, is important for successful treatment. Current laboratory methods for diagnosing dermatophytosis rely on KOH mount and fungal culture method. However, these methods have low sensitivity and are time-consuming (2~4 weeks to diagnosis). In our previous study, a rapid molecular diagnostic assay (PCR-reverse blot hybridization assay, REBA) was developed to identify the following 6 main species of dermatophytes: Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, and Epidermophyton floccosum. However, the REBA required more evaluation to validate its use in clinical examinations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and validate the ability of the PCR-REBA to successfully identify dermatophytes in clinical isolates from dermatophytosis patients. Both conventional identification methods and the PCR-REBA were used to assess the presence of species of dermatophytes in 148 clinical isolates. The results of the two approaches were compared, and discrepancies between the two approaches were resolved by fungal ITS1 sequence analysis. T. rubrum was the most prevalent dermatophyte identified by conventional identification methods (118/148, 79.7%) and the PCR-REBA (131/148, 88.4%). The overall rate of consistency between conventional identification methods and the PCR-REBA was 79.0% (117/148 samples). Fungal ITS1 sequence analysis showed that PCR-REBA results were correct for 93.5% (29/31) of the discrepant samples. The PCR-REBA is rapid, sensitive, and highly specific compared with conventional identification methods. Thus, the PCR-REBA is a potentially useful tool for identifying dermatophytes in clinical settings.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1165-1169
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• 2012

In April 2009, the H1N1 pandemic influenza virus emerged as a novel influenza virus. The aim of this study was to compare the performances of several molecular assays, including conventional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), two real-time reverse transcription (rRT)-PCRs, and two multiplex RTPCRs. A total of 381 clinical specimens were collected from patients (223 men and 158 women), and both the Seeplex RV7 assay and rRT-PCR were ordered on different specimens within one week after collection. The concordance rate for the two methods was 87% (332/381), and the discrepancy rate was 13% (49/381). The positive rates for the molecular assays studied included 93.1% for the multiplex Seeplex RV7 assay, 93.1% for conventional reverse transcription (cRT)-PCR, 89.7% for the multiplex Seeplex Flu ACE Subtyping assay, 82.8% for protocol B rRT-PCR, and 58.6% for protocol A rRT-PCR. Our results showed that the multiplex Seeplex assays and the cRT-PCR yielded higher detection rates than rRT-PCRs for detecting the influenza A (H1N1) virus. Although the multiplex Seeplex assays had the advantage of simultaneous detection of several viruses, they were time-consuming and troublesome. Our results show that, although rRT-PCR had the advantage, the detection rates of the molecular assays varied depending upon the source of the influenza A (H1N1)v virus. Our findings also suggest that rRT-PCR sometimes detected virus in extremely low abundance and thus required validation of analytical performance and clinical correlation.