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Molecular Plant Pathology

A DNA Probe Specific for Serologically Diverse Strains of Erwinia carotovora. L. J. Ward, Agriculture Canada, Vancouver Research Station, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, B.C., Canada, V6T 1X2; S. H. De Boer, Agriculture Canada, Vancouver Research Station, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, B.C., Canada, V6T 1X2. Phytopathology 80:665-669. Accepted for publication 9 January 1990. Copyright 1990 Department of Agriculture. Government of Canada. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-80-665.

A DNA probe was developed which was specific for Erwinia carotovora and hybridized with all tested strains in the subspecies atroseptica, carotovora, and betavasculorum, regardless of serogroup specificity. The probe, isolated from a genomic library of Erwinia, was selected for its ability to hybridize to genomic DNA of Erwinia, but not to genomic DNA from the taxonomically related Escherichia coli. On nitrocellulose filters, a single colony of E. carotovora could be detected against a background of about 1,000 colonies of soil bacteria. As few as 200 colony-forming units (cfu) of E. carotovora subsp. atroseptica could be detected in a suspension containing 2 ? 10³ cfu of soil bacteria per milliliter.

Additional keywords: blackleg, detection, potato, soft rot.