This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gomaa, M. H.
Right arrow Articles by Barta, J. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gomaa, M. H.
Right arrow Articles by Barta, J. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, December 2008, p. 1839-1844, Vol. 15, No. 12
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00319-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Seroprevalence of Turkey Coronavirus in North American Turkeys Determined by a Newly Developed Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Based on Recombinant Antigen{triangledown}

Maged H. Gomaa,1 Dongwan Yoo,3 Davor Ojkic,2 and John R. Barta1*

Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1 Canada,1 Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1 Canada,2 Department of Pathobiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 618023

Received 15 July 2008/ Returned for modification 8 October 2008/ Accepted 15 October 2008

Turkey coronavirus (TCoV) causes diarrhea in young turkey poults, but little is known about its prevalence in the field. To address this, the complete nucleocapsid gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Expressed nucleocapsid gene produced two distinct proteins (52 and 43 kDa); their specificity was confirmed by Western blotting using two different monoclonal antibodies. Recombinant N protein was purified and used as an antigen to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the serological detection of TCoV that was then validated using experimentally derived turkey serum. The N-based ELISA showed (97%) sensitivity and (93%) specificity for TCoV, which was significantly higher than an infectious bronchitis coronavirus-based commercial test for TCoV. To assess the utility of this recombinant ELISA, 360 serum samples from turkey farms in Ontario, Canada, and 81 serum samples from farms in Arkansas were tested for TCoV-specific antibodies. A high seroprevalence of TCoV was found in turkeys from the Ontario farms with 73.9% of breeders and 60.0% of meat turkeys testing seropositive using the N-based ELISA. Similarly, a high field prevalence was found in the turkeys from Arkansas, for which 64.2% of the serum samples tested seropositive.

* Corresponding author. Mailing Address: Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada. Phone: (519) 824-4120, ext. 54017. Fax: (519) 824-5930. E-mail: jbarta{at}uoguelph.ca

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 October 2008.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, December 2008, p. 1839-1844, Vol. 15, No. 12
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00319-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»