Real-time PCR diagnostics failure caused by nucleotide variability withing exos 4 of human cytomegalovirus major immediate-early gene
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2007 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Clinical Microbiology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Oncology and hematology |
| Description | Here we report how variability in the human cytomegalovirus genome sequence may seriously affect the outcome of its molecular diagnosis. A real-time quantitative PCR assay targeting the major immediate-early gene failed to detect the viral load in some, but not all, clinical samples from hematooncological patients. By amplification and sequencing the DNA across the regions targeted by this assay we found a number of nucleotide substitutions which accounted for decreased primer/probe binding. This decreased the sensitivity of the assay up to 1,000-fold. |