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. 2014 Sep;109(6):728–737. doi: 10.1590/0074-0276140058

TABLE I. Diagnostic, confirmatory and genotyping-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for the molecular analysis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome.

A: diagnostic assay

PCR primers Primer sequence Nucleotide position (HBV) Fragment size (bp) Tm (C)
S gene        
 First round        
  DS-7 (sense) 5’-TCCTGCTGGTGGCTCCAGTT-3’ 55-74 418 60
  DS-8 (antisense) 5’-CAAACGGGCAACATACCTTG-3’ 474-455    
 Nested        
  MS-1 (sense) 5’-GGACCCCTGCTCGTGTTACA-3’ 182-201 232 60
  MS2 (antisense) 5’-CAGGATGAAGAGGAA(T/G)ATGA-3’ 415-396    

final reaction volume: 25 μL. PCR buffer: 1X MgCl2, 2 mM, dNTPs, 75 μM, Taq DNA polymerase 1 IU (Invitrogen™, Life Technologies™). Primers: 0.5 μM each, 5 μL of DNA sample. PCR cycle: 94ºC 3 min, 94ºC 30 s, 60ºC 30 s, 72ºC 30 s, 72ºC 5 min. Forty and 25 cycles, first and nested PCR, respectively. Analytical sensitivity: 1-10 copies HBV DNA (Sanchez et al. 2002). Tm: melting temperature.  
B: confirmatory-PCR assay  

PCR primers Primer sequence Nucleotide position (HBV) Fragment size (bp) Tm (C)

S gene        
 First round        
  S1-sense 5’-CATCAGGATTCCTAGGACCCCT-3’ 168-189 290 55
  S3-antisense 5’-AGGACAAACGGGCAACATAC-3’ 478-458    
 Nested        
  S2-sense 5’-CTTGTTGACAAGAATCCTCACA-3’ 214-235 228 55
  S4-antisense 5’-CCAACAAGAAGATGAGGCATA-3’ 442-420    
C gene        
 First round        
  C1-sense 5’-TCACCTCTGCCTAATCATC-3’ 1825-1843 566 55
  C3-antisense 5’-GAGGGAGTTCTTCTTCTAGG-3’ 2391-2371    
 Nested        
  C2-sense 5’-TTCAAGCCTCCAAGCTGTGCC-3’ 1862-1882 415 68
  C4-antisense 5’-AGGAGTGCGAATCCACACTCC-3’ 2277-2267    
P gene        
 First round        
  P1-sense 5’-CGTCGCAGAAGATCTCAATC-3’ 2420-2439 425 60
  P3-antisense 5’-TCTTGTTCCCAAGAATATGGT-3’ 2845-2825    
 Nested        
  P2-sense 5´-CCTTGGACTCATAAGGT-3’ 2463-2479 376 55
  P4-antisense 5’-TCCCAAGAATATGGTGACCC-3’ 2839-2820    
X gene        
 First round        
  X1-sense 5’-CGCCAACTTACAAGGCCTTTC-3’ 1100-1120 528 60
  X3-antisense 5’-GGCGTTCACGGTGGTCTCCAT-3’ 1628-1608    
 Nested        
  X2-sense 5’-CCATACTGCGGAACTCCTAG-3’ 1266-1685 274 55
  X4-antisense 5’-CGTAAAGAGAGGTGCGCCCC-3’ 1540-1521    

final reaction volume 50 μL. PCR buffer: 1X MgCl2, 2 mM, dNTPs, 75 μM, Taq DNA polymerase 1 IU (Invitrogen™, Life Technologies™). Primers: 0.5 μM each, 5 μL of DNA sample. PCR cycle: 94ºC 3 min, 94ºC 30 s, 30 s, 72ºC 30 s, 72ºC 5 min. Forty and 25 cycles, first and nested PCR, respectively. The analytical sensitivity of OBI primer sets: 1-10 copies HBV-DNA. Tm: melting temperature.  
C: HVB genotype H-specific PCR-assay  

PCR primers Primer sequence Nucleotide position (HBV) Fragment size (bp) Tm (C)

S gene        
 H1-sense 5’-CTACAGCATGGGAGCACCTCTCTC(A/C)ACGGC-3´ 2844-2873 279 60
 H2-antisense 5’-GTGGATC(G/T)GGTGGCGAGGTTGTCAGAATGC-3’ 3123-3098    

  final reaction volume 25 μL. PCR buffer: 1X MgCl2, 1.5 mM, dNTPs, 200 μM, Hot Star Taq polymerase 2.5 IU (Qiagen). Primers: 0.2 μM each, 5 μL of DNA sample. PCR cycle: 95ºC 15 min, 94ºC 1 min, 60ºC 1 min, 72ºC 2 min. Single PCR, 35 cycles. Analytical sensitivity: 1-10 copies HBV-DNA. Tm: melting temperature.