Environmental Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and Disinfection of Work Surfaces in View of Pandemic Outbreak of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a respiratory illness, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 across the world has been responsible for high morbidity and mortality, which emphasizes the role of the environment on virus persistence and propagation to the human population. Since environmental factors may play important roles in viral outbreaks, and the severity of the resulting diseases, it is essential to take into account the role of the environment in the COVID-19 pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 may survive outside the human body from a few hours to a few days, depending upon environmental conditions, probably due to the relatively fragile envelope of the virus. The shedding and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment on animate and inanimate objects contributes to the risk of indirect transmission of the virus to healthy individuals, emphasizing the importance of various disinfectants in reducing the viral load on environmental surface and subsequently control of SARS-CoV-2 in the human population

MX2 gene mRNA expression as potential biomarker for early pregnancy diagnosis in cattle

Early pregnancy diagnosis is vital for economic sustainability of dairy farms and maintaining the reproductive efficiency of the herd. There are many techniques including progesterone assay, pregnancy specific proteins and interferon stimulated genes have been explored for early pregnancy diagnosis but, they are associated with varying level of efficacy. In the present experiment, interferon stimulated gene (Myxovirus resistance gene 2/MX2) expression pattern was used as a potential biomarker for early pregnancy in cattle. The association of MX2 gene expression in relation to progesterone assay was studied to explore its potential use as biomarker of early pregnancy. The plasma progesterone concentration in conceived animals on day 7 (2.26±0.19 ng/ml), 17 (5.42±0.35 ng/ml) and 21(6.38±0.39 ng/ml) was recorded to be significantly higher as compared to respective values in non-conceived animals, i.e. 1.55±0.09 ng/ml, 4.14±0.14 ng/ml and 0.81±0.06 ng/ml. The sudden decrement in plasma progesterone concentration after day 17th discriminates conceived and non-conceived animals. MX2 expression levels were observed to spike in blood due to release of interferon tau (τ) after implantation of embryo. The relative mRNA expression of MX2 gene showed a 9.5 to 28.64-fold higher expression on 17 days post insemination in pregnant animals as compared to non-pregnant animals. Thus, MX2 gene can be used as a reliable biomarker for the early detection of pregnancy

Segment 2 based characterization of a novel Indian Bluetongue virus isolate

Aim: The study was conducted to characterize and serotype the novel isolate of bluetongue virus (BTV) isolated from India. Materials and Methods: The BTV isolate was propagated in BHK-21 cell line. Nucleic acid (dsRNA) was extracted using Trizol method and cDNA was prepared using a process called reverse transcription. The cDNA was subjected to group specific PCR using ns1 gene specific primer to confirm the isolate as BTV. The type specific PCR was conducted to confirm the serotype of the virus using vp2 gene specific primers for all the BTV serotype including BTV10. The vp2 gene specific PCR amplicon was sequenced and in-silico restriction enzyme analysis and phylogenetic analysis was conducted. Results: Group specific PCR using ns1 gene specific primers showed a single 274bp amplicon in agarose gel electrophoresis confirmed the sample as BTV. The type specific PCR using BTV10 vp2 gene specific primer showed a single amplicon of 647bp. Remaining BTV serotype specific primers didn't show any amplification. The vp2 gene PCR amplicon was sequenced. The in-silico restriction enzyme analysis of vp2 gene of Indian BTV10 isolate along with other isolates from GenBank database using HindIII, XhoII and ApoI showed a common pattern between Indian and USA isolates. Similarly, phylogenetic analyses using vp2 gene nucleotide as well as deduced amino acid sequence of Indian BTV10 isolate and global isolates showed that Indian and most of the USA isolates placed in a single clad. Conclusion: A novel BTV isolate was isolated and confirmed as BTV serotype 10. Upon molecular analysis Indian BTV10 isolate was found closer to that of USA isolates than other global isolates. [Vet World 2013; 6(5.000): 244-248

Sensitive detection of novel Indian isolate of BTV 21 using ns1 gene based real-time PCR assay

Aim: The study was conducted to develop ns1 gene based sensitive real-time RT-PCR assay for diagnosis of India isolates of bluetongue virus (BTV). Materials and Methods: The BTV serotype 21 isolate (KMNO7) was isolated from Andhra Pradesh and propagated in BHK-21 cell line in our laboratory. The Nucleic acid (dsRNA) of virus was extracted using Trizol method and cDNA was prepared using a standard protocol. The cDNA was allowed to ns1 gene based group specific PCR to confirm the isolate as BTV. The viral RNA was diluted 10 folds and the detection limit of ns1 gene based RT-PCR was determined. Finally the tenfold diluted viral RNA was subjected to real-time RT-PCR using ns1 gene primer and Taq man probe to standardized the reaction and determine the detection limit. Results: The ns1 gene based group specific PCR showed a single 366bp amplicon in agarose gel electrophoresis confirmed the sample as BTV. The ns1 gene RT-PCR using tenfold diluted viral RNA showed the detection limit of 70.0 fg in 1%agarose gel electrophoresis. The ns1 gene based real time RT-PCR was successfully standardized and the detection limit was found to be 7.0 fg. Conclusion: The ns1 gene based real-time RT-PCR was successfully standardized and it was found to be 10 times more sensitive than conventional RT-PCR. Key words: bluetongue, BTV21, RT-PCR, Real time RT-PCR, ns1 gene [Vet World 2013; 6(8.000): 554-557

Evidence of Association of Begomovirus with the Yellow Vein Disease of an Ornamental Plant Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) from Western Uttar Pradesh

Begomoviruses are among the most damaging pathogens causing epidemics in economically important crops particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. During February 2015, 20 samples of Calendula with yellow vein disease were collected from the campus of S. V. Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. Total genomic DNA was isolated from the symptomatic and asymptomatic leaf samples and subjected to PCR using coat protein gene specific primer of begomovirus. The PCR amplification of ~770 bp was obtained from the 13 plants out of 20 collected plants. The PCR amplicon from coat protein gene was cloned, sequenced and submitted to GenBank, with accession number KT833850. The sequence data was further analyzed by BLAST analysis and phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA5.0 software which revealed close similarity of sequences with coat protein gene (AV1) components of other potato begomoviruses, which are all tentative strains of Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus (ToLCNDV). The result also indicated that Calendula spp. plants infected with Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus may act as an alternate host (reservoir) for other economically important plants

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Not AvailableIn recent years nanotechnology has revolutionized the healthcare strategies and envisioned to have a tremendous impact to offer better health facilities. In this context, medical nanotechnology involves design, fabrication, regulation, and application of therapeutic drugs and devices having a size in nano-range (1–100 nm). Owing to the revolutionary implications in drug delivery and gene therapy, nanotherapeutics has gained increasing research interest in the current medical sector of the modern world. The areas which anticipate benefits from nano-based drug delivery systems are cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, blood disorders and orthopedic problems. The development of nanotherapeutics with multi-functionalities has considerable potential to fill the lacunae existing in the present therapeutic domain. Nanomedicines in the field of cancer management have enhanced permeability and retention of drugs thereby effectively targeting the affected tissues. Polymeric conjugates of asparaginase, polymeric micelles of paclitaxel have been recmended for various types of cancer treatment .The advancement of nano therapeutics and diagnostics can provide the improved effectiveness of the drug with less or no toxicity concerns. Similarly, diagnostic imaging is having potential future applications with newer imaging elements at nano level. The newly emerging field of nanorobotics can provide new directions in the field of healthcare. In this article, an attempt has been made to highlight the novel nanotherapeutic potentialities of polymeric nanoparticles, nanoemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticle, nanostructured lipid carriers, dendrimers, nanocapsules and nanosponges based approaches. The useful applications of these nano-medicines in the field of cancer, nutrition, and health have been discussed in details. Regulatory and safety concerns along with the commercial status of nanosystems have also been presented. In summary, a successful translation of emerging nanotherapeutics into commercial products may lead to an expansion of biomedical science. Towards the end of the review, future perspectives of this important field have been introduced briefly.Not Availabl