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A panel of 23 real-time PCR assays based on TaqMan technology has been developed for the detection and monitoring of 16 different viruses and virus families including human polyomaviruses BK virus and JC virus, human herpesviruses 6, 7, and 8, human adenoviruses, herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, parvovirus B19, influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza viruses 1 to 3, enteroviruses, and respiratory syncytial virus. The test systems presented have a broad dynamic range and display high sensitivity, reproducibility, and specificity. Moreover, the assays allow precise quantification of viral load in a variety of clinical specimens. The ability to use uniform PCR conditions for all assays permits simultaneous processing and detection of many different viruses, thus economizing the diagnostic work. Our observations based on more than 50,000 assays reveal the potential of the real-time PCR tests to facilitate early diagnosis of infection and to monitor the kinetics of viral proliferation and the response to treatment. We demonstrate that, in immunosuppressed patients with invasive virus infections, surveillance by the assays described may permit detection of increasing viral load several days to weeks prior to the onset of clinical symptoms. In virus infections for which specific treatment is available, the quantitative PCR assays presented provide reliable diagnostic tools for timely initiation of appropriate therapy and for rapid assessment of the efficacy of antiviral treatment strategies.

Adenoviruses (AdV) can cause life-threatening infections in immunosuppressed patients. Reliable diagnostic tests are therefore of paramount importance. Apparently, any of the six AdV species (A to F), currently comprising 51 different serotypes, can play a clinically important role in patients with impaired immune response. It is imperative therefore that diagnostic assays cover the entire spectrum of these viruses. We have sequenced presumably conserved regions of the adenoviral genome in all AdV serotypes. Based on the complete sequence information of the hexon gene, we were able to develop a two-reaction real-time PCR assay covering all human adenoviruses with equally high specificity and sensitivity. The detection systems were tested using reference strains for all 51 serotypes and >1,000 clinical samples derived from peripheral blood and stool specimens from pediatric patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. The two-reaction assay presented permits highly specific detection and quantification of adenoviral DNA of any serotype. From the perspective of routine clinical diagnosis, the assay represents an important improvement over existing approaches by providing a sensitive and economic technique for early detection and monitoring of adenoviral infections.

Plant-producing phenols could strongly inhibit the growth of toxic cyanobacteria genera, but the ecological consequences of this action are still unknown. In this work, the activity of selected phenols in relation to the strain Microcystis aeruginosa was investigated. We have found that the mechanism of the growth inhibition could involve both the inhibition of the photosynthetic system and the alkaline phosphatase activity. The excretion of a high amount of microcystin-LR to the environment was observed as a final result of the application of phenols to the cyanobacterial culture. This finding suggests that first of all an algicidal effect of phenols was probably the reason of the cyanobacterial biomass decreasing.

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