Species-specific probes for identification of target virus and identification method using said probes

A method for identifying a target virus in an infected subject comprising

• (i) obtaining a total nucleic acid preparation of the infected subject;
• (ii) preparing a test sample by amplifying the total nucleic acid preparation of the infected subject with a first pair of primers comprising a forward degenerate primer comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a first highly conserved amino acid sequence of the target virus, and a reverse degenerate primer, the complete complementary sequence of the reverse degenerate primer comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a second highly conserved amino acid sequence of the target virus;
• (iii) contacting the test sample with a species-specific probe, the species-specific probe being prepared by amplifying the target virus gene sequence with a second pair of primers comprising:
• TuMV-F1 of SEQ ID NO:
• 7, and TuMV-R1 of SEQ ID NO:
• 15;
• and
• (iv) detecting a hybridization between the species-specific probe and the test sample, wherein the hybridization indicates the target virus is identified in the infected subject.