DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HERPES VIRUS IN WILDLIFE SPECIMENS

Abstract

A nested PCR approach was used to investigate the presence of Herpesvirusses in different species of Canadian wildlife. The PCR is based on degenerate primers targeting the DNA polymerase B gene in open reading frame 9. The polymerase B protein is a essential protein and highly conserved in the DNA polymerase B gene of Herpesvirus. In this article we describe the findings of this nested PCR on wildlife samples. A unknown Herpesvirus in the specie Martes americana was detected. The detected sequences are aligned in a protein alignment and shown in a pyologenetic tree. This pyologenetic tree shows the relation of the sample Herpesvirusses to Herpesvirusses that were earlier submitted to Genbank. Alpha, Gamma and possibly Beta Herpesvirusses are found with this PCR method. For further research a better overview of Herpesvirusses is desirable by looking at a larger piece of the genome to determine the relation between Herpesviruses within animal species.