Electrophoresis used in quantitative analysis of IBD in chickens

Gel electrophoresis is helping scientists in the quantitative analysis of infectious bursal disease (IBD), a virus which can be contracted by chickens.

The research is published in Virology Journal, a periodical dedicated to disseminating findings in all aspects of virus-borne disease.

In their paper, the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences explain how they used gel electrophoresis in the quantitative analysis of the detection limits involved in a one-step process for identifying the IBD virus.

The initial detection was carried out using reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), followed by a post-amplification restriction enzyme process to single out the most virulent strain.

"RT-LAMP is a rapid, simple and sensitive assay," the researchers write in their report.

"This method holds great promise, not only in laboratory detection and discrimination of the IBD virus, but also in large-scale field and clinical studies," they add.

According to their results, the RT-LAMP screening process is highly feasible for clinical applications, with 100 per cent correlation between its results and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.