COMPARISON OF PRIMER SETS FOR STANDARDIZED DETECTION OF HUMAN CALICIVIRUSES IN WATER

摘要

Norwalk-Like viruses (NLVs; human caliciviruses) are important causative agents of waterborne gastrointestinal illness. NLVs are not culturable at this time, except in humans. NLVs are on the US EPA Contaminant Candidate List and are viral pathogens of concern in drinking water. The most sensitive and specific methods for detection of NLVs are nucleic acid (NA) amplification and characterization. However, a standardized NA method does not exist. To date, at least 10 primer sets, mostly targeting the polymerase region, have been described for broad amplification and detection of NLVs, but no single set of primers consistently detects all NLV strains. Furthermore, many of these primers have not been evaluated for detection in environmental samples or at low copy numbers of viral genomes. A sensitive, standardized approach needs to be developed for detection of NLVs in environmental samples. We have developed a framework for comparative evaluation of published, third generation primer sets for NA amplifation of NLV