Archivio Journal of Plant Pathology

Abstract:

Wheat sharp eyespot (WSE) caused by Rhizoctonia cerealis is one of the most important diseases on wheat in China. In this study, a pair of PCR primers was designed based on the sequence of a DNA region amplified by the microsatellite primer M13. The primer pair amplified a 272 bp fragment from all R. cerealis isolates collected from wheat stems at different locations in different years, but not from any other fungal species tested. A real-time PCR assay using this primer pair was developed to detect early and suspected infection of R. cerealis on wheat stems in the field. The real-time PCR assay established here could help verifying the presence of R. cerealis in stem-base diseased wheat plants, thus assisting growers in choosing the proper fungicides.