Hokkaido University · Immunology and Microbiology
Professor M. Shiro's research lab specializes in virology and molecular diagnostics, with a primary focus on avian herpesviruses, particularly Marek's disease virus (MDV). The lab develops sensitive and non-invasive molecular detection methods, such as nested PCR using feather tip-derived DNA, to differentiate highly virulent MDV strains from attenuated vaccine strains like CVI988. Their work emphasizes the identification of viral oncogenes, such as the meq gene, to improve disease surveillance and vaccine safety monitoring in poultry. The lab also contributes to the understanding of viral replication and pathogenesis in chickens through molecular virology and genetic analysis.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
For the easy survey of Marek's disease virus (MDV), feather tip-derived DNA from MDV-infected chickens can be used because feather tips are easy to collect and feather follicle epithelium is known to be the only site of productive replication of cell-free MDV. To develop a diagnostic method to differentiate highly virulent strains of MDV from the attenuated MDV vaccine strain, CVI988, which is widely used, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect a segment of the meq gene i
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