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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Frederick, Maryland » Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #142990
Title: EVALUATION OF A ON-SITE, ONE-HOUR REAL-TIME PCR ASSAY FOR DETECTING THE CITRUS CANKER BACTERIUM IN PLANT SAMPLES AT PORT FACILITIES

Author
item Schaad, Norman
item OPGENORTH, D. - CDFA
item PETRILLO, M. - USDA/APHIS
item ABDELSHIFE, M. - USDA/APHIS
item TEDLA, T. - USDA/APHIS

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2003
Publication Date: 6/1/2003
Citation: Schaad, N.W., Opgenorth, D., Petrillo, M.D., Abdelshife, M.A., Tedla, T. 2003. Evaluation of a on-site, one-hour real-time pcr assay for detecting the citrus canker bacterium in plant samples at port facilities. Phytopathology. 92:S76.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The expanding global economy, free trade agreements, and increased air travel make the interception of accidentally and deliberately introduced plant pathogens of great importance. To determine if PCR assays are useful for on-site detection of bacteria in plant samples at port facilities, we evaluated a real-time PCR assay for detection of Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri (Xcc). A 2 to 3 mm section of a lesion was removed, soaked in 50 ul of 0.85% saline for 20 min. and 25 ul transferred to a tube for isolation on YDC agar and direct real-time PCR using a Smart Cycler. The total time to assay 14 samples was 45 to 55 min. PCR assays of canker samples collected by inspectors at LAX and SFO ports showed that 7 of 8 and 15 of 28 were positive, respectively. Viable Xcc was recovered from two samples at each port. These results show that Xcc is being intercepted at California ports and that real-time PCR can provide rapid on-site results.