IDENTIFICATION OF CLAVIBACTER-MICHIGANESIS SUBSP SEPEDONICUS USING THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

From the sequence of a subcloned DNA fragment of a highly conserved pl asmid of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus a pair of oligon ucleotides were devised for use as polymerase chain reaction primers. The primer sequences do not show significant homology with any other s equence deposited in public databases. Polymerase chain reactions carr ied out using this primer pair and untreated cells of all strains of C . michiganensis sepedonicus tested resulted in the amplification of a DNA fragment of about 670 base pairs. No amplification was observed wh en bacteria belonging to other species were submitted to polymerase ch ain reaction under the same conditions. The detection limit of the ass ay was 4 X 10(3) bacteria.