As. Turner et al., REFINEMENT OF PCR-DETECTION OF FUSARIUM-AVENACEUM AND EVIDENCE FROM DNA MARKER STUDIES FOR PHENETIC RELATEDNESS TO FUSARIUM-TRICINCTUM, Plant Pathology, 47(3), 1998, pp. 278-288
Existing PCR-based assays for the detection of the cereal pathogen Fus
arium avenaceum were found to cross-react with F. tricinctum. An inves
tigation into the phenetic relationship between these two species usin
g two different marker systems revealed a close relationship between t
hem despite their being from separate taxonomic sections. Whilst RFLP
differences in the ITS regions surrounding the nuclear 5.8 S rDNA were
insufficient to discriminate between isolates of the two species, the
y were clearly differentiated by RAPD profiling. RAPD fragments from E
avenaceum isolates were screened for hybridization to F, tricinctum D
NA on Southern blots. One of 12 selected RAPD fragments showed no hybr
idization to genomic DNA from F. tricinctum. This fragment was cloned
and sequenced, and the sequence obtained was used to design PCR primer
s. The primers were found to be specific for F. avenaceum, with no cro
ss-reactions obtained with F. tricinctum or any other wheat pathogen a
ssayed. The primers were able to differentiate between the two species
in infected plant material, in contrast to the earlier assays.