Amplification of DNA from bovine herpesvirus type 1

The aim of the study was to adapt PCR for detection of BHV 1 after in vitro multiplication. Primers were synthesised for a fragment of the gIV glycoprotein gene of the reference Cooper strain of BHV 1. Polish BHV 1 isolates obtained in the 1970s from bull semen were examined. A positive amplification occurred for the strains belonging to subtype BHV 1.2 and subtype BHV1.1. No amplification has occurred with the DNA of EHV 1 and Aujeszky’s disease virus, which confirmed the specificity of the primers used. The specificity of amplification was proved by digestion of the PCR products with Alu I, Ava I, Bgl I, and Hind III restriction enzymes. The electrophoretic pattern of the PCR products digested with these enzymes was in conformity with the restriction map of the amplified fragment.