Table 4.
Sensitivity of qPCR assays for parasite detectiona
| Type of DNA, type of assay | Approximate CT value for 1 promastigote | Detection threshold with CT cutoff of 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Minicircle, SYBR green | 24.2 | 0.005 |
| Minicircle, TaqMan | 27.7 | 0.18 |
| Genomic, SYBR green | 37.0 | 102 |
| Genomic, TaqMan | 38.5 | 318 |
a
DNA extracted from known numbers of L. infantum chagasi promastigotes was amplified with kDNA 5 minicircle primers or with primers hybridizing to the single-copy gene encoding DNA polymerase. The average CT values corresponding to numbers of promastigote genomes in a single well are indicated. Please note that this table should not be used for exact quantification, because the efficiency of the PCR is expected to vary between the Leishmania species.