Scott A. Callison

Development and evaluation of a real-time taqman RT-PCR assay for the detection of infectious bronchitis virus from infected chickens

Abstract It is important to rapidly differentiate infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) from disease agents like highly pathogenic avian influenza virus and exotic Newcastle disease virus, which can be extremely similar in the early stages of their pathogenesis. In this study, we report the development and testing of a real-time RT-PCR assay using a Taqman®-labeled probe for early and rapid detection of IBV. The assay amplifies a 143-bp product in the 5′-UTR of the IBV genome and has a limit of detection and quantification of 100 template copies per reaction. All 15 strains of IBV tested as well as two Turkey coronavirus strains were amplified, whereas none of the other pathogens examined, tested positive. Evaluation of the assay was completed with 1329 tracheal swab samples. A total of 680 samples collected from IBV antibody negative birds were negative for IBV by the real-time RT-PCR assay. We tested 229 tracheal swabs submitted to two different diagnostic laboratories and found 79.04% of the tracheal swabs positive for IBV by real-time RT-PCR, whereas only 27.51% of the samples were positive by virus isolation, which is the reference standard test. We also collected a total of 120 tracheal swabs at six different time points from birds experimentally infected with different dosages of IBV and found that, independent of the dose given, the viral load in the trachea plateau at 5 days post-inoculation. In addition, an inverse relationship between the dose of virus given and the viral load at 14 days post-inoculation was observed. Finally, we tested 300 total tracheal swab samples, from a flock of commercial broilers spray vaccinated for IBV in the field. The percentage of birds infected with the IBV vaccine at 3, 7, and 14 days post-vaccination was 58%, 65%, and 83%, respectively, indicating that only slightly more than half the birds were initially infected then the vaccine was subsequently transmitted to other birds in the flock. This observation is significant because coronaviruses, which have a high mutation rate, can revert to pathogenicity when bird-to-bird transmission occurs. The real-time RT-PCR test described herein can be used to rapidly distinguish IBV from other respiratory pathogens, which is important for control of this highly infectious virus. The test was extremely sensitive and specific, and can be used to quantitate viral genomic RNA in clinical samples.

Spike Glycoprotein Cleavage Recognition Site Analysis of Infectious Bronchitis Virus

The spike glycoprotein of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), a coronavirus, is translated as a precursor protein (So), then cleaved into two subunits (S1 and S2) by host cell serine proteases. In this study, we compared the cleavage recognition site of 55 IBV isolates to determine if the cleavage recognition site sequence, which consists of five basic amino acid residues, correlates with host cell range, serotype, geographic origin, and pathogenicity as it does in orthomyxoviruses and paramyxoviruses. The most common cleavage recognition site observed (33 of 55 viruses) was Arg-Arg-Ser-Arg-Arg, representing at least 11 different serotypes. Thus, cleavage recognition site does not appear to correlate with serotype. We also determined that cleavage recognition site sequence does not correlate with pathogenicity because attenuated and pathogenic isolates (different passages of the same virus) contain identical cleavage recognition site sequences. In addition, nephropathogenic strains had the same cleavage recognition site sequence as many nonnephropathogenic isolates. Cleavage recognition site sequence does correlate with viruses in different geographic regions, which may be an important characteristic to examine in epidemiologic studies. An IBV monoclonal antibody neutralization-resistant mutant (NR 18) had an unusual substitution of Ile for Arg at the fourth position, giving the sequence Arg-Arg-Ser-Ile-Arg, which likely prevents cleavage and, thus, destroys the conformationally dependent monoclonal antibody binding epitope. Six residues on the amino-terminal side of the cleavage recognition site are conserved in 31% of the isolates and consist of only one or two basic amino acids. Thus, the number of basic residues around the cleavage recognition site does not appear to correlate with increased cleavability, host cell range, and increased virulence as it does with envelope glycoproteins in orthomyxoviruses and paramyxoviruses.

Molecular characterization of infectious bronchitis virus isolates foreign to the United States and comparison with United States isolates.

Eleven infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) isolates foreign to the United States were analyzed by using reverse transcriptase (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and S1 glycoprotein gene sequencing. Two of the isolates generated RFLP patterns that resembled the Mass 41 strain. Seven novel RFLP patterns were detected among the other nine foreign IBV isolates. Five of the foreign isolates were further analyzed by S1 glycoprotein gene sequencing in our laboratory. Phylogenetic analysis of S1 glycoprotein-deduced amino acid sequences for 4/91 pathogenic, 4/91 attenuated, and Variant 1 were greater than 90% similar to viruses belonging to the 793/B serogroup and, therefore, are possibly serologically related. Variant 2 was only 81.0% similar to viruses belonging to the European serogroup B, and, therefore, predicting its serotype is difficult. Isolates 98-07484 and 97-8123 were genotypically unique and therefore might be serologically unique. With the RFLP patterns and the deduced S1 amino acid sequence data as a reference, none of the IBV isolates foreign to the United States have been detected in the United States.

Data from 11 years of molecular typing infectious bronchitis virus field isolates.

Abstract In 1993, a new molecular typing method for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) was introduced. This method uses reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the spike gene to obtain RFLP patterns that correlate with serotype. Using that test at the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center (PDRC, University of Georgia, Athens, GA), we have identified a total of 1523 IBV isolates in the past 11 yr. The data were obtained from clinical samples submitted to our laboratory from birds with clinical signs characteristic of IBV infection. The samples are primarily from the southeastern United States but are also from many other states as well as from outside the United States. Most of the isolations occurred during July, followed by May, April, November, October, and January. The fewest number of isolates identified on an annual basis was 20 in 2003. An unusually high number of isolations occurred in 1997 (318 isolations) and 1999 (246 isolations), which coincided with the GAV variant virus and GA98 variant virus outbreaks respectively. By far, the Ark-DPI strain was the most frequently identified type of IBV and ranged from 23% to 65% of total isolations per year. Ark-like isolates, defined as having a similar but unique RFLP pattern from the Ark-DPI vaccine strain were identified every year of the study except in 1996. In addition, new Ark-like isolates continued to emerge each year (except in the year 2000) beginning in 1997, reflecting the ability of that IBV type to undergo genetic drift. Eighty-two different variant viruses were identified although only two (GAV and GA98) became persistent and caused widespread disease. Some viruses tended to be geographically restricted to a given area (CAV in California and MX97-8147 in Mexico), whereas others were widespread (Ark-DPI, Conn, DE072, and Mass). The Florida, Gray, Holte, Iowa, and JMK types were not detected during the 11-yr period, and no foreign virus types were detected in the United States. These data show that IBV variant viruses are consistently circulating in commercial poultry and are capable of causing disease outbreaks. Our observations highlight the importance of constantly monitoring IBV as well as other coronaviruses like severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus that have the ability to change and emerge to cause disease in a susceptible host.

Detection of Infectious Bronchitis Virus by Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase–Polymerase Chain Reaction and Identification of a Quasispecies in the Beaudette Strain

Abstract SUMMARY. In this report, we describe a real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) diagnostic test for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) with the use of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology. Two primers that amplify a 383-base pair product between nucleotide positions 703 and 1086 relative to the start codon for the S1 gene of the Massachusetts 41 virus were designed and used to amplify the Beaudette, Massachusetts 41, Florida 18288, Connecticut, Iowa 97, Arkansas DPI, CA/NE95/99, DE/072/92, and GA/0470/98 strains of IBV. The primers were specific and did not amplify New Castle disease virus, Mycoplasma spp., or infectious laryngotracheitis virus. For RRT-PCR by FRET, an anchor probe conjugated to fluorescein and a detection probe conjugated to a red fluorophore were designed to anneal to a hypervariable region within the 383-base pair product. The level of sensitivity was 1 × 104 RNA molecules used as starting template. After amplification, a melting curve analysis was conducted to specifically identify IBV types. Because of sequence differences in the annealing position of the detection probe, the Arkansas, Connecticut, Beaudette, and Massachusetts 41 strains could be differentiated. No fluorescence was observed for the DE/072/92 and GA/0470/98 viruses with the anchor and detection probes. When the Beaudette strain was examined, two melting peaks were observed at 44 C and 51 C, indicating a quasispecies in that laboratory strain of IBV. Routine typing of vaccine strains of IBV was possible with this technology, but high standard deviations associated with the melting curve analysis of the FRET probes described herein made it difficult to use this test reliably for routine typing of IBV field isolates.

Development and Validation of a Real-Time Taqman® Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for the Detection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in Naturally Infected Birds

Abstract In this study, we report the development and validation of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using a Taqman®-labeled probe for the detection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MGLP assay). The MGLP assay was highly specific with a detection limit of 25 template copies per reaction and a quantification limit of 100 template copies per reaction. Validation of the assay was completed with 1247 samples (palatine cleft and tracheal swabs) from M. gallisepticum-positive and -negative chicken flocks. The MGLP assay was compared to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a conventional polymerase chain reaction assay (mgc2 PCR), and isolation of M. gallisepticum from naturally infected flocks. A total of 805 samples collected from negative flocks, as verified by ELISA and/or mgc2 PCR, were negative by the MGLP assay. A total of 442 samples were collected from positive flocks, of which a total of 228 samples were positive by the MGLP assay. These results agreed for 98.87% of the samples when tested by mgc2 PCR. When comparing the MGLP assay with M. gallisepticum isolation, the MGLP assay was more sensitive than isolation for detecting positive birds from a positive flock, 172/265 and 50/265, respectively. Overall, the MGLP assay and M. gallisepticum isolation agreed for 52.8% of the samples tested. In conclusion, the MGLP assay was highly specific, sensitive, and reproducible, and allowed the quantification of template copies directly from clinical samples.

The Mycoplasma gallisepticum 16S–23S rRNA Intergenic Spacer Region Sequence as a Novel Tool for Epizootiological Studies

Abstract Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) contains two sets of rRNA genes (5S, 16S and 23S) in its genome, but only one of the two is organized in an operon cluster and contains a unique 660-nucleotide intergenic spacer region (IGSR) between the 16S and the 23S rRNA genes. We designed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the specific amplification of the complete MG IGSR segment. The MG IGSR PCR was tested on 18 avian mollicute species and was confirmed as MG specific. The reaction sensitivity was demonstrated by comparing it to the well-established MG mgc2 PCR. The MG IGSR sequence was found to be highly variable (discrimination [D] index of 0.950) among a variety of MG laboratory strains, vaccine strains, and field isolates. The sequencing of the MG IGSR appears to be a valuable single-locus sequence typing (SLST) tool for MG isolate differentiation in diagnostic cases and epizootiological studies.

Infectious Bronchitis Virus S2 Gene Sequence Variability May Affect S1 Subunit Specific Antibody Binding

The S2 gene of several strains of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) belonging to the Arkansas, Connecticut, and Florida serotypes was sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of the S2 gene nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence data resulted in groups of strains that were the same as groupings observed when S1 sequence data was used. Thus, it appears that S2 subunits are conserved within a serotype but not between serotypes. Although the sequence differences were small, we found that only a few amino acid differences were responsible for different secondary structure predictions for the S2 subunit. It is likely that these changes create different interactions between the S1 and S2 subunits, which could affect the conformation of the S1 subunit where serotype specific epitopes are located. Based on this sequence data, we hypothesize that the S2 subunit can affect specific antibody binding to the S1 subunit of the IBV spike glycoprotein.

Rapid differentiation of avian infectious bronchitis virus isolates by sample to residual ratio quantitation using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction

Abstract A rapid diagnostic assay for differentiating avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) isolates was developed. The basis of the assay is the cleavage of target RNA by RNase H mediated by sequence-specific chimeric oligonucleotides followed by sample to residual ratio quantitation (SRRQ) using RRT-PCR. Four serotype-specific chimeric oligonucleotides were designed, one each for the Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arkansas, and Delaware/Georgia 98 serotypes, and tested for their ability to mediate specific cleavage of target RNA from known homologous and heterologous strains of IBV. Specific cleavage of target RNAs by each chimeric oligonucleotide was verified using agarose gel analysis and RRT-PCR. There were no non-specific cleavage products. Eight different IBV strains representing seven serotypes were tested and each chimeric oligonucleotide mediated cleavage of target RNA only from strains within the serotype that the chimeric was designed against. The SRRQ assay was evaluated on 15 samples without prior knowledge of their grouping and correctly identified the serotype of each sample. The assay is rapid; six samples can be tested in approximately 4h. In addition, the primer set amplifies all IBV RNAs tested to date and provides a built in control for detecting IBV whether it is typeable or not.

Using DNA shuffling to create novel infectious bronchitis virus S1 genes: implications for S1 gene recombination.

We employed the staggered extension process (StEP) to shuffle the S1 genes from four infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strains representing four unique serotypes. Upon creating a shuffled S1 gene library, we randomly selected 25 clones and analyzed them by DNA sequencing. In total, eleven clones contained novel S1 gene recombinants. Based on sequence data, each recombinant was unique and contained a full-length open reading frame. The average number of crossovers per recombinant was 5 and the average number of point mutations was 1.3, leading mostly to non-synonymous amino acid changes. No recombinant contained sequences from all four parental genes and no recombinant contained any sequence from the distantly related Delaware 072 strain. Our data suggests that recombination between distantly related IBV strains within the S1 gene probably does not readily occur. This finding is extremely important in light of the common industry vaccination practice of mixing different live-attenuated IBV strains.