Research note: a rapid method for the detection of the Rous-associated endogenous solitary long terminal repeat, ev15

A rapid method has been developed for the detection of the solitary long terminal repeat ev15, a member of the avian leukosis virus (ALV) family of endogenous viral elements (ev genes) in chickens. Detection is accomplished by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay that can be performed on purified genomic DNA samples or crude preparations of partially purified whole blood lysates. The test discriminates unambiguously between birds that are homozygous ev15-, homozygous ev15+, or heterozygous ev15-/ev15+. The incorporation of a modified touchdown amplification profile significantly improved the specificity of the PCR assay. Small-scale screening of birds from a variety of chicken breeds has revealed that ev15 is present in populations of both egg-strain birds and broilers.