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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310831
Title: Species-specific diagnostics using a B-1,4-endoglucanase gene for Pratylenchus spp. occurring in the Pacific Northwest of North America

Author
item Peetz, Amy
item Zasada, Inga

Submitted to: Nematology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/2016
Publication Date: 10/12/2016
Citation: Peetz, A.B., Zasada, I.A. 2016. Species-specific diagnostics using a B-1,4-endoglucanase gene for Pratylenchus spp. occurring in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Nematology. 18(10):1219-1229. doi: 10.1163/15685411-00003026.

Interpretive Summary: Plant-parasitic nematodes are microscopic roundworms that can cause significant yield losses to many crops grown in the United States. A group of plant-parasitic nematodes of economic importance on crops such as raspberry, alfalfa, potato, and wheat grown is root lesion nematodes. Because several species of root lesion nematode may occur in association with a crop, but all may not cause damage, correct identification is crucial to the deployment of management strategies. This research was conducted to develop molecular tools for the rapid and reliable identification of root lesion nematodes. A portion of the nematode genome of four species of root lesion nematode of importance in the Pacific Northwest of the United States was targeted. Sequences were identified that allowed for differentiation of these species. These results are significant because they provide a method for the rapid and reliable identification of root lesion nematodes. This research will be used by diagnostic laboratories to improve current methods of nematode identification.

Technical Abstract: A PCR assay was designed and optimized to differentiate four Pratylenchus species commonly encountered in soil and root samples from the Pacific Northwest of North America. Species-specific primers were designed to accessions from Pratylenchus species deposited in GenBank which encoded a ß-1,4-endoglucanase gene. The optimized ß-1, 4-endoglucanase gene primer sets produced amplicons that were 380, 293, 528, and 364 bp from P. crenatus, P. neglectus, P. penetrans, and P. thornei, respectively. Primer sets were tested successfully for functionality and specificity among each of the four species. This method allowed for the identification of juveniles to species thereby precluding the necessity of the presence of females in a sample for accurate diagnostics. Ultimately, this diagnostic PCR assay could be used as an efficient tool for rapid diagnostics of Pratylenchus species recovered from soil and root samples in any laboratory equipped for PCR.