PCR Polymerase chain reaction

DNA
Desoxirribunocleic acid
RNA
Ribonucleic acid
SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl
sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis)
PVDF polyvinylidene fluoride

ASO Allele-specific oligonucleotide

HSV Herpes simplex virus

CSF

cerebrospinal fluid

HCV

hepatitis C virus

HIV

human immunodeficiency virus

CMV cytomegalovirus

SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome

What is Multilocus test sequence typing (MLST) based in? MLST

involves comparing the nucleotide sequences of internal fragments of a
number of housekeeping genes.
Which are problematic biological warfare agents that are infectious in
very small quantities affecting many people? The biological warfare
agents are: Bacillus anthracis, Variola major virus (smallpox),
Clostridium botulinum, Yersinia pestis.
How can laboratory contamination be reduced? Laboratory
contamination can be reduced by ultraviolet light irradiation of reagents and
chemical inactivation of surface contamination with sodium hypochlorite.
What substances in clinical samples can inhibit PCR enzymes?
Substances such as sputum and faeces can degrade the DNA and RNA and
other specimens may contain substances such as polysaccharides, haem and
therapeutic drugs.
The problem with strain differentiation using phenotypic methods in
bacterial, such as meningococcal disease outbreaks, is the variable
expression of phenotypic markers. (T)
Spore disruption and PCR can now be achieved in 15 minutes using newly
developed hardware.
The molecular diagnoses cannot yet replace conventional methods for a range
of infectious diseases (T)
The advent of real-time PCR has reduced this risk due to single tube PCR
reaction and detection systems. (T)
Another approach is to detect ARN species that are usually degraded within
minutes of cell death to indicate pathogen viability and replication (T)
Early diagnosis of B. pertussis, M. tuberculosis, N. meningitidis is
important for early prevention of transmission, a goal that is best achieved by
a combination of conventional and molecular tests.
The PCR systems require the release of DNA from spores, which can be
difficult to achieve without inhibiting the PCR process.
The Advances in conventional technologies have resulted in many rapid
antigen tests requiring only minutes for results.
Is crucial that appropriate negative controls are included in every PCR run
to detect any contamination
Some organisms such as mycobacteria are difficult to extract DNA from,