ABSTRACT
All hybridization reactions share the same general principles: the target viral nucleic acid is first denatured and bound to a liquid-phase or solid-phase support such as nylon membrane. The probe, which is also denatured, is incubated with the target DNA under a controlled reaction, after which the unbound probe is removed by thorough washing and a reporter molecule is added to the membrane. After another incubation, excess unbound reporter molecule is removed by washing and a specific substrate solution is added that, when catalyzed by the enzyme, generates a signal that can be detected by a variety of means-visually, ftuorometrically, or lurninometrically, or a combination of these depending on the substrate used (41).
