FIG. 1.

Schematic diagram of the PCR strategy. (a) Initial panherpesvirus nested PCR with degenerate and deoxyinosine-substituted primers, used for amplification of novel herpesvirus DPOL gene sequences. (b) Subsequent heminested PCR with the degenerate sense primer DFA and two virus-specific antisense primers. (c and d) Alternative heminested PCR approaches with a pan-LCV sense primer (1743s or 1828s) and two virus-specific antisense primers. The partial DPOL gene of EBV is shown at the top for demonstration of the primer binding regions. The positions bp 1226 and 2489 refer to the 5′ ends of the binding regions of the primers 1828s and KG1, respectively. Solid arrowheads, degenerate primers; open arrowheads, specific primers. The virus-specific antisense primers have slightly different positions in each individual DPOL gene sequence, but they are always located between primers TGV and IYG.