WITHDRAWN: Designing and computational validation of microarray probe sets for the diagnosis of viruses of non-human vertebrates

In this study, a microarray probe dataset was strategized exclusively targeting the diagnosis of viruses infecting non-human vertebrates. The dataset contains 21,234 species-specific probes from 766 pathogenic virus species and subtypes and 3998 genus level conserved probes from 146 virus genera. The probes were designed from coding regions of virus genomes and selected after rigorous screening for species specificities, minimal cross-reactivity and thermodynamic properties. The probe sets were computationally compared with the probes of earlier published pan-viral arrays; GreeneChipPm, ViroChip and Microbial Detection Array that have been largely implemented for the detection of viruses pathogenic to humans. We found these pan-viral arrays have lesser representation of non-human virus species, non-uniformity in numbers of probes per virus, compromised specificity with higher cross-species reactivity. Further, the customized chip was experimentally validated with samples of two known animal infectious viruses and negative controls. The results and findings of this study create new possibilities in veterinary diagnostics with unbiased and specific virus identification. Also, upon comparison of probe specificities with earlier arrays, it was found that the array devised in this study could also be successfully employed in array based genotyping of viruses having various subtypes.
Source: Molecular and Cellular Probes - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research