Sensitive and Pathovar-Specific Detection of Xanthormonas campestris pv. glycines by DNA Hybridization and Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis

Xanthomonas campestris pv. glycines causes bacterial pustule disease on susceptible soybean leaves and produces a bacteriocin, named glycinecinA, against most xanthomonads including Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria. One of the 5 isolated DNA regions responsible for bacteriocin production, a 1.7 kb DNA region for the glycinecinA gene, was used as a probe to detect the presence of the homolog DNA in other bacterial strains. Among 55 bacterial strains tested, only X. campestris pv. glycines showed the positive signal with glycinecinA DNA. Two oligomers, heu2 and heu4, derived from a glycinecinA DNA were used to carry out the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis with chromosomal DNA from 55 different bacterial strains including 24 different strains of X. campestris pv. glycines, 9 different pathovars of xanthomonads, and other 22 bacterial strains of different genus and species. By separation of the PCR products on agarose gel, a 0.86 kb DNA fragment was specifically detected when X. campestris pv. glycines was present in the amplification assay. The 0.86 kb fragment was not amplified when DNA from other bacteria was used for the assay. Southern analysis with glycinecinA DNA showed that the PCR signal was obtained with X. campestris pv. glycines isolates from various geographic regions and soybean cultivars. Therefore, the 1.7 kb DNA region for the glycinecinA gene can be used for the pathovar-specific probe for the DNA hybridization and the primers heu2 and heu4 can be used for the pathovar-specific primers for the PCR analysis to detect X. campestris pv. glycines.