

@article {7920,
	title = {{Quantification of Norovirus Genogroups I and II in Environmental and Clinical Samples Using TaqMan Real-Time RT-PCR}},
	journal = {Food and Environmental Virology},
	volume = {1},
	number = {1},
	year = {2009},
	pages = {15{\textendash}22},
	abstract = {Noroviruses (NoVs) are a major cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis in all age groups. They efficiently circulate in both clinical and environmental contexts. In this study, real-time RT-PCR methods based on TaqMan probe technology were used to enumerate human noroviruses (genogroups I and II) in clinical samples, and in estuarine, seawater and sewage water samples, with the aim of obtaining quantitative information on the level of viral contamination. This was achieved through a quantitative analysis of the highly conserved region between ORF1 and ORF2, using genogroup-specific assays. RNA standards used to construct calibration curves for the two genogroups were generated by in vitro transcription from recombinant pCR4TOPO vectors containing a partial sequence coding for RdRp polymerase. Sewages were found to contain from 6.8~{\{}$\backslash$texttimes{\}}~102 to 6.7~{\{}$\backslash$texttimes{\}}~104 genome copies (GC) per millilitre; seawater samples contained from 7.6~{\{}$\backslash$texttimes{\}}~101 to 2.4~{\{}$\backslash$texttimes{\}}~103 per 10~l. As for clinical samples, the concentrations of NoVs per gram of stool varied, ranging from 6.1~{\{}$\backslash$texttimes{\}}~103 to 1.4~{\{}$\backslash$texttimes{\}}~108. Real-time PCR is an easy to use, sensitive and specific tool able to generate quantitative data, and could prove useful in both environmental and clinical settings.},
	issn = {1867-0342},
	doi = {10.1007/s12560-008-9002-5},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12560-008-9002-5},
	author = {La Rosa, Giuseppina and Pourshaban, Manoochehr and Iaconelli, Marcello and Muscillo, Michele}
}
