An attempt was made to evaluate the utility of a method which employs semi-specific PCR using partially specific primers for the coding sequence (ET) at the exon-intron contact and of the RAPD method to identify eight Polish cultivars of gerbera. It was demonstrated that the PCR method which employs semi-specific primers is as simple and economical as the RAPD method, simultaneously the images ...

OBJECTIVES To report our experience over the past 10 years of chorionic villi sampling (CVS) prenatal diagnosis in a high-risk population for chromosomal anomalies, and to analyze, according to the results, the advantages and disadvantages of using quantitative fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR) in amniotic fluid with respect to a conventional semi-direct cytogenetic CVS method in ...

BACKGROUND PCR detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA in amniotic fluid (AF) is the most sensitive tool for diagnosis of fetal infection, but has sub-optimal sensitivity. It has been suggested that inhibition by AF reduces the sensitivity of this assay, however this assumption has never been thoroughly studied. Several PCR assays have been shown to improve sensitivity, but comparative st...

The most important restriction for the detection in water samples is the low concentration of Giardia intestinalis cysts, additional difficulty is the presence of PCR inhibitors. We have carried out trials in order to assess the sensitivity of semi-nested PCR and TaqMan real time PCR on the basis of DNA extracted from G. intestinalis cysts coming from spiked environmental and distilled water sa...

Theileria annulata, as a pathogenic agent of tropical theileriosis, gives rise annually to serious economic losses in cattle industry of Iran. The carrier cattle, harbouring the latent forms of Theileria annulata, play a major role in infecting tick vectors and in disseminating the infection. The aim of this study was determining the carrier cattle, infected with Theileria annulata in Golestan ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Fungal keratitis is a suppurative, ulcerative, and sight-threatening infection of the cornea that sometimes leads to blindness. The aims of this study were: recuperating facilities for laboratory diagnosis, determining the causative microorganisms, and comparing conventional laboratory diagnostic tools and semi-nested PCR. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sampling was conducted in...

The Global Program for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) aims to eliminate this disease by the year 2020. However, the development of more specific and sensitive tests is important for the success of the GPELF. The present study aimed to standardise polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based systems for the diagnosis of filariasis in serum and urine. Twenty paired biological urine and ...

Dengue virus (DENV) causes various clinical symptoms of differing severity based on time of infections. The existing laboratory methods, semi-nested PCR and Dengue IgM ELISA, still have limitations for diagnosis. A commercially available rapid immunochromatographic dengue NS1 antigen and IgM antibody tests in comparison with semi-nested PCR and IgM ELISA for confirmation of DENV infection were ...