Consensus PCR assays that can be used to sensitively detect several herpesvirus (HV) species across the different subfamilies were developed in this study. Primers containing degenerate bases were designed to amplify regions of the DNA polymerase (DPOL) gene of alpha- and gamma-HVs, and the glycoprotein B (gB) gene of beta-HVs in a singleplex, non-nested touchdown PCR format. The singleplex touchdown consensus PCR (STC-PCR) wa...

7Massive fires in Indonesian peatlands in the 1990s and in eastern Russian peatlands in 2002 and last year have highlighted the need to manage forests overlying peat deposits, as well as converted peat forests and open peatlands. Peat or peaty soils, contain 65% or more of partially decayed vegetation, can burn freely or underground. They cover some 10 percent of worldwide forests and contain 25 percent of all terrestrial carb...