Simultaneous detection and differentiation of DuCV-1 and DuCV-2 by high-resolution melting analysis

Birds infected with duck circovirus (DuCV) can potentially cause immunosuppression by damaging lymphoid tissues, causing great losses in the duck breeding industry. Duck circovirus can be divided into two genotypes (DuCV-1 and DuCV-2), but simultaneous detection and differentiation of DuCV-1 and DuCV-2 by high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis is still lacking. Here, we designed specific primers according to the sequence characteristics of the newly identified ORF3 gene and then established a PCR-HRM method for the simultaneous detection and differentiation of DuCV-1 and DuCV-2 via high-resolution melting analysis. Our data showed that the established PCR-HRM assay had the advantages of specificity, with the lowest detection limits of 61.9 copies/μL (for DuCV-1) and 60.6 copies/μL (for DuCV-2). The melting curve of the PCR-HRM results indicated that the amplification product was specific, with no cross-reaction with common waterfowl origin pathogens and a low coefficient of variation less than 1.50% in both intra-batch and inter-batch repetitions, indicating the advantages of repeatability. We found that the percentage of DuCV-2-positive ducks was higher than that of DuCV-1-positive ducks, with 8.62% rate of DuCV-1 and DuCV-2 coinfection. In addition, we found DuCV-2-positive in geese firstly. In conclusion, this study provides a candidate PCR-HRM assay for the detection and accurate differentiation of DuCV-1 and DuCV-2 infection, which will help us for further epidemiological surveillance of DuCVs.