Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #176059
Title: REAL-TIME PCR: APPLICATIONS TO STUDIES ON SOILBORNE PATHOGENS

Author
item Okubara, Patricia
item SCHROEDER, KURTIS - WASHINGTON STATE UNIV.
item Paulitz, Timothy

Submitted to: Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2005
Publication Date: 9/1/2005
Citation: Okubara, P.A., Schroeder, K.L., Paulitz, T.C. 2005. Real-time pcr: applications to studies on soilborne pathogens. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology. Can. J. Plant Pathology. 27: 300-313.

Interpretive Summary: Plant pathologists, breeders, and growers will benefit from a rapid, sensitive and specific method to detect and quantify specific soilborne pathogenic fungi in agricultural samples. This review will briefly describe types of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and current applications of qPCR to the detection of Rhizoctonia, Pythium, Fusarium, and other root pathogens that infect a wide range of crop species.

Technical Abstract: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), also called real-time PCR, offers a rapid, sensitive, specific, and quantitative tool for the diagnoses of soilborne plant pathogens. Root and stem diseases are not readily distinguished on the basis of symptoms when more than one pathogen is present, and microscopy-based identification methods require culturing on specialized media for days to weeks. The incidence and severity of these diseases are variable, and their management has been neglected, in part because of the lack of accurate diagnoses and assessment of pathogen risk. qPCR-based diagnoses will be useful to plant pathologists, breeders, growers, and others who seek information on the presence and amounts of soilborne pathogens in agricultural samples. This review will briefly describe types of qPCR, approaches to the design of qPCR primers, and current applications in the detection of fungal pathogens, such as Rhizoctonia, Pythium, and Fusarium, that infect a wide range of crop species.