Amplicor HIV monitor, NASBA HIV-1 RNA QT and quantiplex HIV RNA version 2.0 viral load assays: a Canadian evaluation.

Background: HIV-1 viral load quantitation is now recognized as a useful tool to monitor the efficiency of antiviral treatment and a powerful predictor of disease outcome. Three HIV-1 viral load quantitation methods have been currently available as commercial kits in Canada since 1996.

Objective: To evaluate the ability to quantify HIV-1 RNA in plasma of the Amplicor HIV Monitor Test, the NASBA HIV-1 RNA QT Assay and the Quantiplex HIV RNA Assay, version 2.

Detection of human herpesvirus 6 DNA in serum by a microplate PCR-hybridization assay.

PCR was performed on DNA extracts derived from clinical serum samples submitted for human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) serological examination. To detect amplified HHV-6 products, a hybridization-based microtiter plate assay (PCR ELISA; Boehringer Mannheim) was used. The assay system was found to be rapid, specific, and sensitive.

Production of a baculovirus-derived gp50 protein and utilization in a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the serodiagnosis of pseudorabies virus.

The pseudorabies virus (PRV) gp50 envelope glycoprotein gene was cloned and expressed in a recombinant baculovirus. An anti-gp50 Mab (1842) recognized a protein of approximately 40 kDa in immunoblotting assays from infected insect cell lysates, while this product was not present in cells infected with wild-type baculovirus. The recombinant protein was purified by lectin affinity chromatography, utilizing lectins specific for O-linked oligosaccharides (Artocarpus integrifolia and Glycine max).

Genetic characterization of the hemagglutinin gene of influenza B virus which predominated in the 1985/86 Canadian influenza season.

Objective: To characterize the hemagglutinin (HA) gene of B/Canada/3/85, a prototype strain of influenza B virus variants that emerged in the 1984/85 influenza season and predominated in the 1985/86 season in Canada.

Design: Sequencing and comparison of the HA genes of B/Canada/3/85 and the vaccine strains for the 1985/86 season, B/USSR/100/83, and for the 1986/87 season, B/Ann Arbor/1/86.

Results: B/Canada/3/85 was similar to B/Ann Arbor/1/86 and significantly different from B/USSR/100/83.

Bnm1, a Brassica pollen-specific gene.

cDNA and genomic clones of a new pollen-specific gene, Bnm1, have been isolated from Brassica napus cv. Topas. The gene contains an open reading frame of 546 bp and a single intron of 362 bp.