Abstract:
Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum (Xvm) is a bacterial pathogen responsible
for the economically important Xanthomonas wilt disease on banana and enset
crops in Sub-Saharan Africa. Given that the symptoms are similar to those of
other diseases, molecular diagnosis is essential to unambiguously identify this
pathogen and distinguish it from closely related strains not pathogenic on these
hosts. Currently, Xvm identification is based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
with GspDm primers, targeting the gene encoding general secretory protein D.
Experimental results and examination of genomic sequences revealed poor specificity of the GspDm PCR. Here, we present and validate five new Xvmspecific
primers amplifying only Xvm strains.
