Construction and characterization of porcine circovirus type 2 carrying a genetic marker strain.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the primary causative agent of post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome in pigs. To generate a genetic marker strain of PCV2, the full-length genome of the virus was amplified using PCR, and two copies of the genome were ligated in tandem to construct an infectious molecular clone. A Sal I restriction enzyme site was inserted into the clone as a genetic marker, and the recombinant plasmid was transfected into porcine kidney cells to generate mutant virus.