Detection of Virus Nucleic Acids by Radioactive and Nonisotopic In Situ Hybridization

Unlike other applications of in situ hybridization (ISH),where the target is likely to be chromosomal DNA or RNA transcripts, the target in studies to detect viral nucleic acids may represent double-or single-stranded (ds or ss) DNA or RNA (representative of viral genomes), nucleic acid replicative intermediates or mRNA. Consequently, the sample may require an optional denaturation step to distinguish ds and ss nucleic acids, and/or a prior nuclease digestion step.