Rice false smut (RFS) is an important rice disease that is caused by the pathogen Ustilaginoidea virens. In this study, we developed a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect U. virens and to estimate the level of disease. The genomic DNAs of U. virens and rice were extracted together from the rice samples. Real-time PCR assays were performed and compared to conventional neste...

a nested polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay with two pairs of primers was applied for the detection of m. tuberculosis complex dna in specimens of 51 patients. of these, 31 clinically diagnosed patients (group i) recruited from july 1996 to june 1997 were given antituherculous chemotherapy from one to six months with standard daily regimen (isaniazid, 5 mg/kg; rifampin, 10 mg/kg; pyrazinamit...

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (EBV-PTLD) is a known and serious condition for the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This study evaluated the prevalence of EBV in umbilical cord samples of healthy pregnant women in Baghdad, Iraq.  Methods: 800 umbilical cord blood (UCB) samples were collected from healthy pregnant women. The ...

We analyzed the efficiency of the quantitative real-time PCR assay for cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation in adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATL) patients and compared the results with those obtained with qualitative nested PCR and antigenemia assays. The viral load obtained by the real-time PCR assay closely paralleled the number of antigen-positive cells obtained with the antigenemia assay. R...

BACKGROUND Nucleic acid tests that can simultaneously detect multiple targets with high sensitivity, specificity, and speed are highly desirable. To meet this need, we developed a new approach we call the isoPCR method. METHODS The isoPCR method is a 2-stage nested-like nucleic acid amplification method that combines a single multiplex preamplification PCR with subsequent distinct detection o...

Background and Aims: Canine distemper (CD) is a deadly infectious disease of Canidae family. CD is a multi-systemic viral disease and is specified by wide range of clinical symptoms. The manifestations are not always indicative of CD, therefore a laboratory confirmation is necessary for suspected cases. Materials and Methods: Different clinical specimens of 19 CD suspected unvaccinated dogs wer...

objective: polymerase chain reaction (pcr) is one of the most important progress in the field of molecular biology and diagnosis. despite simplicity in concept, the reaction needs complex interaction between target sequence, primers, dntps and dna polymerase for a successful amplification and diagnosis. for the detection of rna viruses highly sensetive and specific technique is required. hence ...

abstract life-threatening infections caused by the encapsulated fungal pathogen cryptococcus neoformans have been increasing steadily over the past 10 years. cryptococcus neoformans is recognized as the most frequent fungal infection of the central nervous system (cns) in immunocompetent as well as immunocompromised patients. we report the development of a semi-nested- pcr-based assay for the d...