Development of PCR-Based Detection System for Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae Pathogens Using Molecular Signatures.

Md Niamul Kabir,C Korsi Dumenyo,Ali Taheri

doi:10.3390/microorganisms8030358

Abstract

Pectobacterium and Dickeya species, usually referred to as soft rot Enterobacteriaceae, are phytopathogenic genera of bacteria that cause soft rot and blackleg diseases and are responsible for significant yield losses in many crops across the globe. Diagnosis of soft rot disease is difficult through visual disease symptoms. Pathogen detection and identification methods based on cultural and morphological identification are time-consuming and not always reliable. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection method with the species-specific primers is fast and reliable for detecting soft rot pathogens. We have developed a specific and sensitive detection system for some species of soft rot Pectobacteriaceae pathogens in the Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera based on the use of species-specific primers to amplify unique genomic segments. The specificities of primers were verified by PCR analysis of genomic DNA from 14 strains of Pectobacterium, 8 strains of Dickeya, and 6 strains of non-soft rot bacteria. This PCR assay provides a quick, simple, powerful, and reliable method for detection of soft rot bacteria.

Highlights

Bacterial soft rot is a destructive disease in plants, notably vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals, and is caused by a group of Gram-negative bacteria collectively referred to as soft rot Enterobacteriaceae
The main purpose of this study was to develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based system that can serve as a rapid identification technique to detect soft rot Pectobacteriaceae, Pectobacterium spp., and Dickeya spp
Twenty-eight bacterial strains (Table S1) belonging to some species of Pectobacterium and Dickeya genera, Enterobacteriaceae, and non-enterobacteria were used in this study

Summary

Introduction

Bacterial soft rot is a destructive disease in plants, notably vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals, and is caused by a group of Gram-negative bacteria collectively referred to as soft rot Enterobacteriaceae. We are revising the name soft rot Enterobacteriaceae into soft rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP). The SRP contains two genera, Pectobacterium and Dickeya, which are globally widespread and cause high economic losses in ornamental plants, fruits, and vegetable productions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Almost all vegetables are susceptible to soft rot disease, which causes a greater total loss than any other bacterial disease [2,7,8,9]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion