Identification of two GH18 chitinase family genes and their use as targets for detection of the crayfish-plague oomycete Aphanomyces astaci.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The oomycete Aphanomyces astaci is regarded as the causative agent of crayfish plague and represents an evident hazard for European crayfish species. Native crayfish populations infected with this pathogen suffer up to 100% mortality. The existence of multiple transmission paths necessitates the development of a reliable, robust and efficient test to detect the pathogen. Currently, A. astaci is diagnosed by a PCR-based assay that suffers from cross-reactivity to other species. We developed an alternative closed-tube assay for A. astaci, which achieves robustness through simultaneous amplification of multiple functionally constrained genes.

Results

Two novel constitutively expressed members of the glycosyl hydrolase (GH18) gene family of chitinases were isolated fr

SUBMITTER: Hochwimmer G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2751781 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature