Specific and sensitive detection of the conifer pathogen Gremmeniella abietina by nested PCR.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerb.) Morelet is an ascomycete fungus that causes stem canker and shoot dieback in many conifer species. The fungus is widespread and causes severe damage to forest plantations in Europe, North America and Asia. To facilitate early diagnosis and improve measures to control the spread of the disease, rapid, specific and sensitive detection methods for G. abietina in conifer hosts are needed.

Results

We designed two pairs of specific primers for G. abietina based on the 18S rDNA sequence variation pattern. These primers were validated against a wide range of fungi and 14 potential conifer hosts. Based on these specific primers, two nested PCR systems were developed. The first system employed universal fungal primers to enrich the fungal DNA

SUBMITTER: Zeng QY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1298302 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature