APS Abstracts of Presentations

The development of a species-specific detection assay for Phytophthora capsici
J. SONG (5), Y. Lee (1), S. Ka (2), S. Li (3), G. L. Hartman (4), H. Kim (1)
(1) Department of Agricultural Biology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea; (2) Sun Genetics, Inc., Daejeon, Korea; (3) USDA-ARS, Stoneville, MS, USA; (4) USDA/ARS and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA; (5) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Phytopathology 96:S109

A specific and sensitive PCR assay was developed for the detection of Phytophthora capsici, the cause of phytophthora blight of pepper, in soil and plant tissues. A species-specific primer pair for P. capsici, CSP21A and CSP23B, was designed from a 2,401 bp of Hind III-digested genomic DNA fragment of P. capsici. PCR amplification of P. capsici DNA with primers CSP21A and CSP23B produced a 979 bp product, and species specificity was demonstrated against DNA from 13 other Phytophthora species, pepper and several other fungi pathogenic to pepper. The sensitivity of primer CSP21A and CSP23B was 100 fg. These primers detected the pathogen at levels of as few as 10 P. capsici zoospores and oospores per milliliter in water, and detected 100 to 1,000 oospores and zoospores per 1 g in soil. This primer set also, detected the pathogen in naturally infested plant materials and soils. The PCR assay using primers CSP21A and CSP23B could be used as an accurate and sensitive method for detecting P. capsici in pepper tissue and soil.

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