Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(9): 1098-1102 1098 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.609.131 Detection and Characterization of Infectious Bronchitis Virus in Desi Birds by Molecular Assay A.P. Surendar*, K.M. Palanivel, S. Saravanan and R. Gopala Krishnamurthy Department of veterinary preventive medicine, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal-2, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Poultry are kept in most areas of the world and it provides an acceptable form of animal protein to most people throughout the world. During the last decade, many developing countries have adopted intensive poultry production in order to meet the demand for this form of animal protein. Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a major cause of disease in domestic fowl and causes an acute, highly contagious disease of the respiration and sometimes urogenital tracts (King and Cavanagh, 1991). Morbidity is usually high in all ages of chickens, drop in egg production, affect internal quality to eggs and high mortality (10%-30%) occurs in chickens less than 6 week old (Wang et al., 1997). Infected chicks are the major source of virus excretion in the environment. Contaminated equipment and material are a potential source for indirect transmission over large distances. Clinical signs will develop in contact chicks within 36 hours and in nearby sheds within one to two days. Infection is resolved within fourteen days with a rise in antibody titres. In a small number of chicks, latent infection is established with subsequent erratic shedding of virus for a prolonged period of time via both faeces and aerosol. Movement of live birds should be considered as a potential source for the introduction of IBV. Isolation International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 9 (2017) pp. 1098-1102 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Infectious Bronchitis (IB) is highly contagious and acute, with economically importance disease of poultry. 185 samples including tracheal swab and faecal swab were collected from apparently healthy and infected birds with respiratory disorders. An attempt made to isolate the virus through inoculation of specific pathogen free embryonated egg (SPFEE) as cultural medium. The embryo showing dwarfism were identified and subjected to molecular diagnosis. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to amplify N-Protein and sequenced. Factors responsible for prevalence of IB in desi chicken were studied. Out of 185 samples 7 samples showed dwarfism in SPFEE. 4 out of 7 samples, found positive for IBV by RT-PCR. Keywords Infectious Bronchitis, Isolation, Detection, RT-PCR, NP glycoprotein. Accepted: 17 July 2017 Available Online: 10 September 2017 Article Info