Typing of varicella zoster virus by amplification of DNA polymorphisms

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Abstract

The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify five variable regions of varicella zoster virus DNA from 20 samples of vesicle fluid. Two of the regions, R1 and R5, were found to be polymorphic, with the former having three alleles (A, B and C) and the latter, two (A and B). The R1 and R5 polymorphisms were stable up to passage five in tissue culture. The sensitivity of the PCR (down to six copies) enabled detection of virus from vesicle fluid dried on glass slides and overall the method was five times more sensitive than conventional tissue culture. The method described is simple, sensitive and informative and provides a means by which questions about the epidemiology and clinical biology of VZV infection may begin to be addressed.

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    Citation Excerpt :

    Restriction endonuclease analysis of VZV DNA from virus isolated from an immunocompromised patient with varicella and a later episode of herpes zoster showed that the same strain of VZV caused both diseases, indicating the stability of the virus genome in its natural setting (Straus et al., 1983). From primary infection to latency, the virus undergoes about 20 cycles of replication, providing little opportunity for DNA mutations to accumulate (Grose et al., 2000) and resulting in little geographic diversity (Hawrami et al., 1996; Muir et al., 2002). Analysis of virus after propagation more than 1200 times in tissue culture revealed minimal mutations in the VZV genome (Hart et al., 2009).

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