Molecular genetic analysis of products of swine breeding on the presence of CVS2

Abstract

Goal. To conduct molecular genetic studies of products of swine breeding, in particular, liver, sold in the food markets of Kharkiv, for the presence of genomic material of porcine circovirus type 2 (CVS2). Methods. Extraction of total nucleic acid, in particular CVS2 DNA, from liver homogenate, transported to the laboratory on ice was performed according to standard methods. Detection of CVS2 genetic material was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a standard format using the PCV2 F/R primer system, which limited the rep gene fragment which encodes the virus replicase, with a length of 408–421 nucleotide pairs (n.p.), on an amplifier Biometer TAdvanced. Molecular weight markers with a resolution of 25 to 700 n.p. were used to determine the length of the amplification products. To visualize the results of amplification, the method of horizontal gel-electrophoresis was used, followed by photographing 1.5% gels using Image Lab software 5.2.1. Results. It was found that 62.5% of the studied liver samples obtained from clinically healthy pigs contain CVS2 DNA, which indicates the need to strengthen control over the spread of this virus among the pig population in Ukraine. Conclusions. Based on the results of research, it is established that the liver of pigs is potentially dangerous for consumers because of the presence of CVS2 due to the possible impact of this virus on other infectious agents when ingested, as well as human infection, which can not be excluded given the known ability of CVS2 to overcome species barrier. The necessity of monitoring pig products, in particular liver, using a standard PCR variant is shown.