DNA probes and PCR primers for the detection of a phytoplasma associated with peanut witches'-broom

Abstract

EcoRI restriction fragments of genomic DNA from the phytoplasma associated with peanut witches'-broom (PNWB) were cloned in plasmid pGEM-3Zf(+). Cloned inserts from seven PNWB-phytoplasma-specific recombinant plasmids and two subcloned plasmids were excised with restriction enzymes, labeled with digoxigenin, and used as probes. Probe PNWB281 and its derivative subclones PNWB281-4 and PNWB281-5 hybridized with DNA from PNWB-phytoplasma infected peanut and periwinkle specifically but not with DNA from healthy plants or plants infected with phytoplasmas associated with sweetpotato witches'-broom (SPWB), loofah, Ipomoea obscura, and paulownia witches'-broom, elm and aster yellows, rice yellow dwarf, and bamboo little leaf disease. Six other probes hybridized with DNA derived from PNWB and SPWB-phytoplasma-affected periwinkle but not with DNA from healthy plants or plants infected with other phytoplasmas mentioned. In Southern hybridizations, four of the nine cloned and subcloned probes could differentiate the PNWB-phytoplasma from SPWB-phytoplasma. Three primer pairs for PCR were synthesized according to the partial sequences at both ends of the cloned inserts and were able to distinguish PNWB-phytoplasma from SPWB-phytoplasma by using PCR for the first time. A minimum of 1 pg and 10 pg of total DNA from diseased periwinkle and peanut, respectively, was sufficient to amplify the specific PNWB-phytoplasma PCR fragments, allowing the detection of PNWB-phytoplasma DNA from healthy-looking periwinkle plants two weeks after graft inoculation.