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Molecular Plant Pathology

Analysis of Repetitive DNA Sequences from Potato Cyst Nematodes and Their Use as Diagnostic Probes. Rebecca Stratford, Plant Breeding International, Maris Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LQ, United Kingdom; Robert Shields(2), Andrew P. Goldsbrough(3), and Colin Fleming(4). (2)(3)Plant Breeding International, Maris Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LQ, United Kingdom; (4)Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland and The Queen’s University of Belfast, Felden, Mill Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim BT36 7ED. Phytopathology 82:881-886. Accepted for publication 12 March 1992. Copyright 1992 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-82-881.

The potato cyst nematode species Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida pathotype Pa2/Pa3, as well as G. pallida pathotype Pa1, can be distinguished from each other by restriction fragment length polymorphisms using DNA probes, which are present at low frequencies in the nematode genome. By differential screening of nematode DNA we have isolated DNA sequences that are highly abundant in G. rostochiensis, G. pallida, or the G. pallida Pa1 pathotype. These DNAs can be used as probes to distinguish potato cyst nematodes by a simple dot blot procedure using single cysts. The genomic organization of these highly abundant sequences has been examined; some of them are found to exist in long tandem arrays of 200 copies or more.