Evaluación de una ADN polimerasa Bst_LF de producción local en ensayos LAMP para la detección de Neospora caninum en muestras de bovinos (Bos taurus)

Abstract

Neospora caninum is an intracellular parasite of great importance in cattle breeding due to the great economic losses, both productive and reproductive. In our country, molecular techniques applicable to diagnosis are not available to most farmers due to the costs and time required to obtain the results, which prevents an accurate diagnosis of the disease. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of a DNA polymerase Bst_LF enzyme produced in the Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Faculty of Agropecuary Sciences of the University of Cuenca in a LAMP assay, for the detection of N. caninum genetic material in biological samples of bovine (Bos taurus), using a commercial enzyme as a reference. We used 50 fetal brain tissue samples and 50 milk samples. The results obtained in the milk samples with the two enzymes were 100 % negative, therefore it was not possible to detect DNA of the pathogen. In the brain samples, 40% of positive samples were identified with the commercial enzyme and 26% of positive samples with the local enzyme, there being a numerical difference but no significant differences with McNemar's analysis. With McNemar's statistical test there were no significant differences between both enzymes (p = 0.0654), therefore the local enzyme Bst_LF shows the same capacity for the detection of N. caninum genetic material in bovine fetal brain tissue compared to that of the commercial enzyme Bsm.