Rapid detection and non-subjective characterisation of infectious bronchitis virus isolates using high-resolution melt curve analysis and a mathematical model

Abstract

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a coronavirus that causes upper respiratory, renal and/or reproductive diseases with high morbidity in poultry. Classification of IBV is important for implementation of vaccination strategies to control the disease in commercial poultry. Currently, the lengthy process of sequence analysis of the IBV S1 gene is considered the gold standard for IBV strain identification, with a high nucleotide identity (e.g. ∼95%) indicating related strains. However, this gene has a high propensity to mutate and/or undergo recombination, and alone it may not be reliable for strain identification. A real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) combined with high-resolution m..