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[Paul]

I am currently trying to identify a putative novel virus in cerebral tissues of canines displaying severe neurodegenerative signs. I have eliminated all known agents as the cause. I wish to perform representational difference analysis (RDA) on both disease and normal canine cerebral tissues to identify a putative viral pathogen which is non-cultureable. If the pathogen is an RNA virus then I need to perform double strand cDNA synthesis on total RNA using random primers and not Oligo dT primers as this would pick up mRNA only.

1. Can random primers be used in RDA?
2. Does anyone know of an easier way to try and amplify a novel viral agent?

Many thanks for your help,
Regards,
Paul[B]