A novel application of RNase H2-dependent quantitative PCR for detection and quantification of Grosmannia clavigera, a mountain pine beetle fungal symbiont, in environmental samples.

ABSTRACT: Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins; MPB) is an economically and ecologically important pest of pine species in western North America. Mountain pine beetles form complex multipartite relationships with microbial partners, including the ophiostomoid fungi Grosmannia clavigera (Robinson-Jeffrey and Davidson) Zipfel, de Beer and Wingfield, Ophiostoma montium (Rumbold) von Arx, Grosmannia aurea (Robinson-Jeffrey and Davidson) Zipfel, de Beer and Wingfield, Leptographium longiclavatum (Lee, Kim, and Breuil) and Leptographium terebrantis (Barras and Perry). These fungi are vectored by MPB to new pine hosts, where the fungi overcome host defenses to grow into the sapwood. A tree's relative susceptibility to these fungi is conventionally assessed by measuring lesions that develop

SUBMITTER: McAllister CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5982843 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature