Figure 5.

PRV genome copies in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) of infected/immunized pigs determined by PRV major capsid protein (MCP) gene-specific qPCR. Pigs were infected with PRV wt or immunized with PRVtmv+ vaccine. At 28 days post-infection/immunization, latently infected pigs were reactivated by Dex injection. At five days post-reactivation, pigs were euthanized, and TGs were collected and stored frozen (−80 °C). Total DNA was isolated from 25 mg of TG tissues. The qPCR was performed on isolated DNA samples targeting the PRV-MCP gene. The PRV gene copies were calculated by normalization of the MCP-specific CT values against the standard curve generated based on the CT values obtained from the same samples for a cellular housekeeping GAPDH gene. The mean copy numbers of the PRV-MCP gene copies per one million cells are shown. Two independent qPCR tests were performed for each TG sample. The bar graph represents the individual values in each group. PRV wt—PRV wt-infected pigs (n = 2); PRVtmv+—PRVtmv+ vaccine-immunized pigs, latency reactivated (n = 3); Negative—TGs from mock-infected pigs (stored in −80 °C) from the previous study [1].