A specific and sensitive method for the detection of Colletotrichum musae in banana fruit

BACKGROUND: Banana anthracnose incited by Colletotrichum musae (Berk & Curt.) Arx. is a serious disease both in field and in postharvest marketing stage. Molecular methods are most suitable for the early detection of infection. AIM: The latent infection of C. musae makes it very difficult to detect the infected fruit lot, hence aim is to detect the latent infection using molecular approach. METHODS: The molecular variability generated from fourteen isolates of C. musae by RAPD-PCR technique was utilized to determine the phylogentic relationship and develop SCAR markers. RESULTS: The genetic similarity coefficient within each group and variation between the groups were observed. Decamer OPA-01 generated a RAPD polymorphic profile that distinguished C. musae from the other organism. Cloning and sequencing of the specific band yielded 588bp sequences, to which forward CM-SCAR-FP and reverse CM-SCAR-RP were designed. The SCAR primer pair amplified a single SCAR of 490bp from each of the 14 isolates of C. musae, and was able to detect the pathogen in as low as 30ng of DNA from infected fruit peel tissue. CONCLUSION: The developed SCAR markers can aid the detection process every quickly and accurately which will help exporters.