Nadin-Davis S A
Rabies Centre of Expertise, Animal Diseases Research Institute, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Nepean, Ont.
J Virol Methods. 1998 Nov;75(1):1-8. doi: 10.1016/s0166-0934(98)00106-2.
The development of RT PCR methodology has facilitated greatly the genetic characterisation of many rabies viruses (RVs), distinct strains of which persist in certain host species reservoirs within geographically defined regions. The relative temporally conserved nature of certain regions of the RV genome, particularly the N gene, permits development of rapid molecular methods for RV typing. Two main strategies have been applied to viral discrimination: (1) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of PCR products and (2) strain-specific PCR (SS-PCR), in which sequences of specific viral strains are amplified differentially using strain-specific primers. Both these approaches have yielded methods of value to rabies epidemiological studies and control programs in Ontario. These procedures have facilitated the identification of intra-strain variants of the arctic fox strain, the only terrestrial RV strain persisting in the area, and they allow rapid discrimination of this strain from those circulating in insectivorous bat reservoirs and from the foreign raccoon strain, which continues to spread throughout the northeastern US and threatens to enter Ontario. Such methods can be adapted readily for use in other regions harbouring multiple overlapping RV reservoirs.
逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT PCR）方法的发展极大地促进了许多狂犬病病毒（RVs）的基因特征分析，其中不同的毒株在地理界定区域内的某些宿主物种储存库中持续存在。RV基因组某些区域，特别是N基因，相对具有时间上的保守性，这使得开发快速的RV分型分子方法成为可能。两种主要策略已被应用于病毒鉴别：（1）PCR产物的限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）和（2）菌株特异性PCR（SS-PCR），其中使用菌株特异性引物差异扩增特定病毒菌株的序列。这两种方法都产生了对安大略省狂犬病流行病学研究和控制项目有价值的方法。这些程序有助于识别北极狐毒株的株内变异体，北极狐毒株是该地区唯一持续存在的陆地RV毒株，并且它们能够快速将该毒株与在食虫蝙蝠储存库中传播的毒株以及与继续在美国东北部传播并有可能进入安大略省的外来浣熊毒株区分开来。此类方法可很容易地适用于其他存在多个重叠RV储存库的地区。
