These dogs, however, had harmful serology and blood PCRs and were probably then not infected. As found previously [13], all the cats we studied were negative by PCR, despite many being seropositive and many harboring PCR positive [14]. The Rabbit polyclonal to Anillin spleen of one was PCR positive for which is the first definitive report of the organism in mice. from around China using serology and molecular techniques. Methods Samples collection This study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Yangzhou University and the Institutional Review Board of Subei Peoples Hospital, China. Written permission was obtained from participants and owners of animals that participated in the study. People sampled in Jiangsu province (Figure?1) were apparently healthy individuals attending the Subei Peoples Hospital for routine health checks. Dogs sampled in Taixing of Jiangsu were apparently healthy animals in a breeding kennel while those from Gansu province were from a shelter. All other dog samples were obtained from patients with a variety of conditions attending local veterinary clinics. The cats sampled in Jiangsu were apparently healthy animals in a shelter while those from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong were from animals presenting to veterinary clinics with a variety of conditions. In Jiangsu, ticks and lice were obtained from breeding kennel dogs and fleas were obtained from feral cats. Mice and shrews were captured in traps in Guangdong and the mosquitoes were captured with hand-nets in the environs of the Yangzhou University of Jiangsu. Open in a separate window Figure 1 Sites in China where samples were obtained for EIA IgG Antibody Kit (Fuller Laboratory, USA) was used according to the manufacturers instructions with peroxidase-conjugated AffiniPure Goat Anti-Cat, Rabbit Anti-Dog, and Goat Anti-Mouse IgG (H?+?L) (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, USA) substituted as secondary antibodies for cat, dog and mouse/shrew assays, respectively. For human plasma, the cut-off level was determined following the manufacturers instructions that an index (OD value of test serum divided by the average OD values of the Cutoff Calibrator) above 1.2 should be considered positive. Plasma from cats, mice, shrews and dogs was regarded as positive if they gave an OD value above the mean plus three standard deviations of the respective negative control samples [4],[5]. DNA extraction Samples were thawed at room temperature and DNA was extracted from buffy coats, homogenized organs and arthropods [6], and canine rectal swabs with the QIAamp? DNA Blood Mini Kit (QIAgen, Valencia, USA), QIAamp? DNA Mini Kit, and QIAamp? DNA Stool Mini Kit, Azaguanine-8 respectively, following the manufacturers protocol. PCR assays Using the Clustal Multiple Alignment Algorithm we identified a conserved region of the in 20 representative species. Primers and probes were designed to amplify a 170-bp target using a FRET-PCR, and 446-bp and 353-bp targets using a nested-PCR (Figure?2). The PCRs were performed in a Azaguanine-8 LightCycler? 480II PCR platform with hydroxymethylbilane synthase as an endogenous internal control [6]. Ten microliters of extracted DNA was tested in a 20?L final volume of reaction mixture. Thermal cycling consisted of a denaturation step (2?min @ 95C) and 18 high-stringency step-down cycles followed by 40 relaxed-stringency fluorescence acquisition cycles. The 18 high-stringency step-down thermal cycles were 6 1?sec @ 95C, 12?sec @ 70C, 8?sec @ 72C; 9 1?sec @ 95C, 12?sec @ 68C, 8?sec @ 72C; 3 1?sec @ 95C, 12?sec @ 66C, 8?sec @ 72C. The relaxed-stringency fluorescence acquisition cycling consisted of 40 1?sec @ 95C, followed by fluorescence acquisition of 8?sec @ 57C, and 30?sec @ 72C. Melting curve analysis for probes annealing to the PCR products was performed by monitoring the fluorescence from 38C to 85C with the first derivatives of F4/F1 being evaluated to determine the probe melting temperature (of and were used to prepare quantitative standards (104 to 100copies/10?L) and establish the sensitivity. All the PCR assays were performed with plasmid standards and sterile H2O as positive and negative controls, respectively. Open in a separate window Figure 2 Alignment of the primers and probes for the species. Panel B shows the nucleotide sequences of the primers used for the nested PCR. In both Panels, Azaguanine-8 dots indicate that nucleotides are identical to the primers. The nucleotides between oligonucleotides are not shown. The upstream primer and probes were used as shown while the downstream.
These dogs, however, had harmful serology and blood PCRs and were probably then not infected
