REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION-POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION (RT-PCR) FOR DIRECT-DETECTION OF CUCUMBER MOSAIC-VIRUS (CMV) IN GLADIOLUS

A diagnostic method based on Reverse Transcription - Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was performed for detection of CMV genome directly i n crude extracts of both healthy and infected gladiolus tissue using p rimers from the conserved sequences of CMV RNA-3. RT-PCR resulted in t he amplification of 540 bp long fragment of CMV coat protein gene (CMV -CP), as expected in most of the plant parts of infected gladiolus sam ples. Positive signals in Southern hybridization of amplified fragment s with cloned CMV-CP cDNA probe also confirmed the presence of CMV gen ome in gladiolus.