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. 2003 Jan;71(1):47–60. doi: 10.1128/IAI.71.1.47-60.2003

TABLE 3.

P. carinii organisms and DNA in inoculated rats

Rat Dose of P. cariniia Results
No. of cysts per lung Standard PCRb
Quantitative PCR (no. of P. carinii genomes per lung)
ITS2c mtrRNAd UCS-MSG
255 0 7 × 105 Negative Negative Negative <1 × 104
256 0 <1 × 104 Negative Negative Negative <1 × 104
257 0 2 × 106 Negative Negative Negative <1 × 104
260 0 <1 × 104 Negative Negative Negative <1 × 104
261 0 <1 × 104 Negative Negative Negative <1 × 104
262 0 <1 × 104 Negative Negative Negative <1 × 104
267 10 3 × 107 Positive Positive Positive 3 × 107
268 10 8 × 108 Positive Positive Positive 4 × 109
269 10 3 × 105 ND ND Positive ND
270 10 5 × 106 ND ND Negative ND
271 10 2 × 107 Positive ND Positive 8 × 106
272 10 2 × 108 Positive ND Positive 3 × 108
273 10 2 × 108 ND ND Positive ND
274 10 1 × 107 ND ND Positive 7 × 107
282 104 8 × 108 Positive Positive Positive ND
283 104 2 × 108 Positive Positive Positive ND
284 104 6 × 107 Positive ND Positive ND
285 104 1 × 108 Positive ND Positive ND
286 104 3 × 108 Positive ND Positive ND
287 107 5 × 109 Positive ND Positive ND
288 107 2 × 109 Positive ND Positive ND
290 107 3 × 109 Positive ND Positive ND
291 107 6 × 108 Positive ND Positive ND
292 107 6 × 107 Positive ND Positive ND
294 107 6 × 107 Positive ND Positive ND
295 107 3 × 108 Positive ND Positive ND
296 107 9 × 108 Positive ND Positive ND
298 107 2 × 109 Positive ND Positive ND
a

Counts are total number of P. carinii nuclei in 0.200 ml, which was the volume injected into each rat. Nuclei in both cysts and trophic forms of P. carinii were counted with a light microscope.

b

Standard PCR was performed for 40 rounds under conditions described in Materials and Methods. The primers used are listed in Table 1. ND, not done. The results of a standard PCR were scored as positive if a band of the expected size was visible after an agarose gel was stained with ethidium bromide.

c

ITS2 is a single-copy locus located in the rRNA gene of P. carinii. The primers used are listed in Table 1.

d

mtrRNA is the gene in the P. carinii mitochondrial genome encoding the RNA in the large ribosome subunit of mitochondria. The primers used are listed in Table 1.