Prevalence and Spatial Distribution of Badnavirus in the Banana (Musa spp) Major Growing Areas in Burkina Faso

Banana streak virus (BSV) and Sugarcane bacilliform virus (SCBV) are two badnaviruses commonly found in all banana growing areas of the world. It is a threat to the production and improvement of Musa germplasm. In Burkina Faso, the presence of badnaviruses was reported in banana producing regions. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of BSV and SCBV in banana production areas of Burkina Faso. A survey followed by a symptomatologic study was conducted in banana plantations in 27 localities of the nine main banana producing regions from July to October 2018 and September to December 2020. In all, 251 leaf samples were collected and analysed for BSV and SCBV infection by Indirect Antigen Coated Plate Assay-ELISA followed by amplification of the RT/RNase H region using Polymerase chain reaction with Badna FP/RP and SCBV F/R primers, respectively. A variety of symptoms were observed on almost all plant organs which were revealed due to BSV by symptomatologic study. The results of serological and molecular diagnosis revealed a high overall prevalence of BSV in 80.48% of the samples tested. BSV was distributed in seven survey regions out of nine with prevalence ranging from 10% to 100% in North, Centre, Centre West, Hauts Bassins, Cascades, Centre East and Boucle of Mouhoun regions. Very low prevalence was recorded for SCBV in Cascades and East Centre region with 4.35 and 12.5%, respectively. Species detection using specific primers to each species revealed three main species: Banana streak Obino l’ewaï virus (BSOLV), Goldfinger virus (BSGFV) and Imové virus (BSIMV) in the samples tested, respectively in the proportions of 23%, 8% and 0.8%. Co-infection between BSV species was also detected.

Basic Study Hepatitis B virus detected in paper currencies in a densely populated city of India: A plausible source of horizontal transmission?

BACKGROUND The recent rise in the incidence of hepatitis B virus(HBV)infections in a densely populated city of eastern India(“mixing vessel”of people of varied socioeconomic and immune status)prompted this study.Applying saliva on fingers for enumerating bank notes is a common practice in the Indian subcontinent.Paper notes may be a potential source of“horizontal”transmission of this virus,especially if there are cuts/bruises on the oral mucous membrane or skin.AIM To investigate whether paper currencies could be a plausible mode of horizontal transmission of HBV infection.METHODS Polymerase chain reactions(PCR)followed by nucleotide sequencing was done for the detection of HBV.Hepatitis B virus surface antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(HBsAg ELISA)was performed on all HBV deoxyribonucleic acid-positive samples to check the detectability of the virus.Atomic force microscopy(AFM)was carried out for visual confirmation of HBV particles in ultracentrifuged/immunoprecipitated samples from currency paper washings.RESULTS HBV-specific PCRs on pellets obtained after ultracentrifugation/immunoprecipitation of the currency paper washings detected potentially intact/viable HBV(genotype D2)in 7.14%of samples(n=70).AFM gave the visual confirmation of HBV particles in ultracentrifuged/immunoprecipitated samples from currency paper washings.However,HBV isolates from the currency notes could not be detected by HBsAg ELISA.CONCLUSION It is a common practice in the Indian subcontinent to count paper currencies by applying saliva on fingertips.Paper notes may be a potential source of“horizontal”transmission of this virus,especially if there are cuts/bruises on the oral mucous membrane or skin,but it was practically not possible to demonstrate experimentally such transmission.Detection of potentially intact/viable and“occult”HBV from currency poses potential risk of silent transmission of this virus among the general population.

Evaluation of a Rapid Immunochromatographic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Antigen Detection Assay

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus(MERS-CoV)infection in humans has a high mortality of>30%.Dromedaries are the reservoir of MERS-CoV and the main source of human infections.However,MERS-CoV infections in dromedaries are usually subclinical.Rapid diagnosis of MERS-CoV infection in these animals is important in preventing camel-to-human transmission of the virus.The possible cross-reactivity of a previously reported rapid nucleocapsid protein-based antigen detection assay for MERS-CoV was examined with different CoVs,including Tylonycteris bat CoV HKU4,dromedary camel CoV UAE-HKU23,human CoV-229E,human CoV-OC43,severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 and rabbit CoV HKU14,where none of them showed false-positive results.The assay was further validated using quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-confirmed MERS-CoV-positive and MERS-CoV-negative dromedary nasal samples collected in Dubai,the United Arab Emirates,which showed that the rapid antigen detection assay has a specificity of 100%and sensitivity of 91.7%.

A sensitive and convenient enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method in serum MG7 antigen detection in gastric cancer

Objective To explore a highly sensitive and highly specific method to detect the serum MG7 antigen(Ag)level for early gastric cancer diagnosis.Methods The serum MG7-Ag level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)method in 116 preoperative gastric cancer patients,63 postoperative gastric cancer patients,41 patients with precancerous lesion,37 pa-

Immune fluorescence test strips based on quantum dots for rapid and quantitative detection of carcino-embryonic antigen

At present,many researchers focused on the point-of-care testing（POCT）,a method of disease markers detection without large-scale instruments and specialized persons.However,most POCT diagnostic methods were suffered from poor detection sensitivity or inefficiency in quantitative detection.Herein,we developed a newly QD-immune fluorescence test strips（QD-IFTS） based on quantum dots（QDs） as the fluorescence nanocarrier to prepare the immune fluorescence probes in the classical immunochromatography detection system for sensing carcino-embryonic antigen（CEA）,a kind of glycoprotein produced by intestinal tissue and a broad spectrum of tumor marker for cancer diagnosis.And we designed a homemade strips fluorescence reader for detection of fluorescence intensity of QDs on the QD-IFTS.Under the optimized reaction conditions,chromatographic time of the newly QD-IFTS was only25 min,sample volume of the newly QD-IFTS was only 40 m L and the LOD of the newly QD-IFTS was 0.72 ng/m L.In addition,the efficiency and robustness of the newly QD-IFTS were confirmed by successfully application in 300 clinical serum samples,and the results revealed great potential in clinical POCT of other biomarkers.