Marek's disease, caused by lymphotropic alphaherpesvirus, is one of the most economically significant diseases of poultry. Despite the ubiquitous use of vaccination to control losses, Marek's disease still affects poultry farming worldwide with an estimated annual loss up to US $2 billion. There is a need for a simple and rapid diagnostic method for early detection of Marek's disease virus from clinical samples under field conditions. A loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay was developed using a set of six primers in order to detect meq gene segment of oncogenic Marek's disease virus (serotype-1) in feather tips of chickens. Bst polymerase was used for the isothermal amplification of viral DNA at 65 o C for 60 min in a water bath. The fluorescence signal was identified in Marek's disease virus-positive samples after the addition of SYBR Green I under ultraviolet illumination. The loop-mediated isothermal amplification technique was found to be more sensitive as compared to Marek's disease virus-specific PCR for the detection of Marek's disease caused by oncogenic Marek's disease virus. The results demonstrate a significant advantage of loopmediated isothermal amplification in diagnosis of Marek's disease compared to conventional PCR as it can be carried out in most situations where rapid diagnosis is required, like in field conditions.
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