A Pair of Novel Primers for Universal Detection of the NS1 Gene from Various Bluetongue Virus Serotypes

Twenty five serotypes of Bluetongue virus (BTV) have been identified worldwide. Rapid and reliable methods of virus universal detection are essential for fighting against bluetongue (BT). We have therefore developed and evaluated a pair of primers which can detect various serotypes of BTV by RT-PCR. Analysis of the viral protein 7 (VP7) and the non-structural protein (NS1) gene from different serotypes of BTV by DNAstar showed that the 5' end of the NS1 gene is the most conserved region. The primer pairs (P1 and P2) were designed based on the highly conserved region of NS1. The novel primers were evaluated by detecting BTV serotypes 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 21 and 22. The specificity of the primers was estimated by comparing to gene sequences of viruses published in GenBank, and further assessed by detecting BTV serotype 1-12 and Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) serotype 1-4. The sensitivity and repeatability of PCR with the novel primers were evaluated by successfully detecting the recombinant plasmid pGEM-T121 containing the diagnosed nucleotide sequence. Our results suggest that these unique primers can be used in high throughout and universal detection of the NS1 gene from various BTV serotypes.

Critical roles of non-coding RNAs in lifecycle and biology of Marek's disease herpesvirus

Over the past two decades, numerous non-coding RNAs(ncRNAs) have been identified in different biological systems including virology, especially in large DNA viruses such as herpesviruses. As a representative oncogenic alphaherpesvirus, Marek’s disease virus(MDV) causes an important immunosuppressive and rapid-onset neoplastic disease of poultry, namely Marek’s disease(MD). Vaccinations can efficiently prevent the onset of MD lymphomas and other clinical disease, often heralded as the first successful example of vaccination-based control of cancer. MDV infection is also an excellent model for research into virally-induced tumorigenesis. Recently, great progress has been made in understanding the functions of ncRNAs in MD biology.Herein, we give a review of the discovery and identification of MDV-encoded viral miRNAs, focusing on the genomics,expression profiles, and emerging critical roles of MDV-1 miRNAs as oncogenic miRNAs(oncomiRs) or tumor suppressor genes involved in the induction of MD lymphomas. We also described the involvements of host cellular miRNAs, lincRNAs, and circRNAs participating in MDV life cycle, pathogenesis, and/or tumorigenesis. The prospects, strategies, and new techniques such as the CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing applicable for further investigation into the ncRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms in MDV pathogenesis/oncogenesis were also discussed, together with the possibilities of future studies on antiviral therapy and the development of new efficient MD vaccines.