Applications of Oligonucleotide Fingerprinting to the Identification of Viruses

This chapter focuses on applications of oligonucleotide fingerprinting to the identification of viruses. Fingerprinting is a technique by which oligonucleotides, produced by cleavage of RNA molecules with specific ribonucleases, are separated in two dimensions. It is a definitive method of identifying RNA viruses according to their genotypes. It is not subject to the problems of antigenic drift or antigenic convergence that complicate serological identification. Furthermore, it provides a semiquantitative means of following the evolution of viral genomes in nature. Because all regions of the genome are represented by the large diagnostic oligonucleotides, a survey of the total genomic changes can be monitored. Fingerprinting has two limitations as a diagnostic tool. First, although highly definitive, fingerprinting is not as rapid or inexpensive as serological techniques and cannot be as easily scaled up for routine identification of a large number of samples. Second, the evolutionary range of fingerprinting is short and relationships may not be evident for isolates of rapidly evolving viruses obtained over long intervals. However, these limitations are not large, compared to the full benefits offered to the virologist by the fingerprinting method.