Table 4. Comparative Detection of 1 gram stool samples spiked with an individual S. japonicum egg (positive samples are bolded; negative controls are in standard font).
| SjTR1* | mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase I gene [17]* | putative DNA photo-lyase gene [18]* | mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene [19]* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Cq [Range]a | Total Detected | Mean Cq [Range]a | Total Detected | Mean Cq [Range]a | Total Detected | Mean Cq [Range]a | Total Detected | |
| Sample 1 | 38.45 [36.96–39.95] | 2/3 | 35.44 | 1/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 2 | 31.62 [31.42–31.95] | 3/3 | 36.58 | 1/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 4 | 30.05 [29.93–30.25] | 3/3 | 37.67 [35.02–39.31] | 3/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 5 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 6 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 7 | 30.90 [30.55–31.19] | 3/3 | 36.57 [36.27–36.86] | 2/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 8 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 9 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 10 | 33.45 [33.26–33.72] | 3/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 11 | 31.93 [31.49–32.27] | 3/3 | 35.00 [33.42–36.20] | 3/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 12 | 30.34 [30.08–30.49] | 3/3 | 33.97 [33.58–34.40] | 3/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 13 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 14 | 33.08 [32.87–33.45] | 3/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 15 | 31.06 [30.85–31.34] | 3/3 | 35.85 | 1/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 16 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 17 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 18 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 19 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
| Sample 20 | 33.15 [32.81–33.34] | 3/3 | 37.16 | 1/3 | N/A | 0/3 | N/A | 0/3 |
a. Each spiked sample was run in triplicate, and the mean Cq values are reported. The reported range includes the smallest and greatest individual Cq values for each individual sample. None of the negative control samples were amplified by any of the assays.
*The SjTR1 assay detected S. japonicum DNA in all 10 of the samples spiked with a single egg (amplification in three out of three replicates for 9 of the 10 samples and two out of three for one of the samples). The mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase I real-time PCR assay [17] detected S. japonicum DNA in only eight of the ten samples tested, with sporadic detection (amplification of only one out of three replicates) in four of these samples. The real-time PCR assays targeting the putative DNA photo-lyase and mitochondrial 16S rRNA genes [18–19] did not detect S. japonicum DNA in any of the samples.