A Simple Detection of Sweetpotato Feathery Mottle Virus by Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction

A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) protocol was developed using two specific 22-mer primers located in coat protein gene of SPFMV. A 411 bp PCR-product was detected in virus infected plants as well as tissue culture raised sweet potato but not in healthy plants. For optimization of RT-PCR protocol, the optimum crude nucleic acid concentration, annealing temperature, primer concentration and numbers of PCR-cycle for maximum sensitivity and specificity were determined. The optimum condition for RT-PCR was as follows: RT-PCR reaction mixture was one-step mixture, containing 50 pmol of primer, 30 units of reverse transcriptase, 5 units of RNasin, and the crude nucleic acid extracts (200 ng). In RT-PCR, cDNA was synthesized at $42^{\circ}C$ for 45 min before a quick incubation on ice after pre-denaturation at $95^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. The PCR reaction was carried out for 40 cycles at $96^{\circ}C$ for 30 see, $63^{\circ}C$ for 30 sec, $72^{\circ}C$ for 1 min, and finally at $72^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. The viral origin of the amplified product was confirmed by sequencing, with the sequence obtained having $95-98\%$ homology with published sequence data for SPFMV. The benefits of this RT-PCR based detection of SPFMV would be simple, rapid and specific.