Authors : Majid Bouzari and Nima Shaykh Baygloo
Abstract: TTV was first identified in 1997. Recently SEN Virus (SENV), was discovered which is distantly related to TTV with about 55% sequence homology, so consensus primers (T801 and T935) already used for the detection of TTV may also detect SEN virus. DNA extracted from serum was subjected to PCR using T801 and T935 primers and the amplified segment was subjected to sequencing. We demonstrated that the prevalence of the virus in serum samples of blood donors in Iran was 79.5% (105/132). The nucleotide sequence revealed up to 94% homology with isolates of TT virus and up to 92% homology with isolates of SEN virus. This study shows high prevalence of TT viruses in Iran which is similar to other countries. The results suggest that PCR primers for the UTR region of TTV, which are commonly used in prevalence studies, can also amplify SEN virus. Thus, the reported prevalence using such primers should refer to the family of TTV (TTV and related viruses), which includes TT virus and SEN virus.
Majid Bouzari and Nima Shaykh Baygloo , 2008. Primers Designed for Detection of TT Virus Also Detect SEN Virus. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 1063-1066.