Establishment and Application of a Duplex Real-time RT-PCR Assay for Identifying Two Branches of H5 Subtype Avian Influenza Virus
In order to accurately distinguish the strains of two evolutionary clades including 2.3.2.1 and 2.3.4.4 of H5 subtype avian influenza virus(AIV),a pair of specific primers and two TaqMan probes were designed by comparing HA gene sequences of H5 subtype AIV registered in Genbank and GISAID with the ones reserved in our laboratory,a duplex real-time RT-PCR assay was established to distinguish different clades of the virus,and its reaction system and parameters were optimized. Meanwhile,the specificity,sensitivity and its clinical application were tested. The results showed that,the specificity of the method was good with no any cross-reaction with other subtypes AIV or common avian viruses;the detection limits of clades 2.3.2.1 and 2.3.4.4 were 495.0 and 22.3 copies/μL,respectively;100 clinical poultry swab samples were tested by the established method,and the results were consistent with those by traditional RT-PCR and virus isolation,with the coincidence rate of 100%. As a conclusion,the established method was specific,sensitive,accurate and convenient,which could be used to distinguish different clades of H5 subtype AIV.