Rapid detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus by using RNA extracted directly from assorted specimens and a one-tube reverse transcription PCR assay

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We describe a simple method for the rapid detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) that uses a one-tube reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and total RNA extracted directly from a variety of bovine specimens, including whole blood and tissues. Reagents for both RT and PCR were combined in a one-tube, single-buffer system, and amplification was performed with a single uninterrupted thermal cycling program. Using the novel cationic surfactant tetradecyltrimethylammonium oxalate (Catrimox-14), we consistently extracted RT-PCR-quality RNA from specimens containing blood. Amplification with primers derived from conserved sequences within the BVDV 5'-untranslated region yielded a 244-bp product. Assay specificity was confirmed by ethidium bromide-stained gel electrophoresis and by chemiluminescence-assayed Southern blot hybridizations involving BVDV 5'-untranslated region-specific digoxigenin-labelled cDNA probes. The assay detection level was 0.1 50% tissue culture infectious dose of BVDV when ethidium bromide-stained gel electrophoresis was used and 0.01 50% tissue culture infectious dose of BVDV when Southern blot hybridization was used. Our method is an alternative to the conventional cell culture assays used in a diagnostic laboratory and is an improvement over existing RT-PCR assays for BVDV.