Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Detection of Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens from Individual Filth Flies
Published on: February 13, 2015
Development and Evaluation of PCR-Based Diagnostic Assays for the Bacterial Speck and Bacterial Spot Pathogens of
Diane A Cuppels1, Frank J Louws2, Teresa Ainsworth3
1Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, N5V 4T3 Canada.
Abstract:
Bacterial speck and bacterial spot lesions can easily be confused with each other and with those formed by other tomato pathogens. To facilitate disease diagnosis, we developed and evaluated polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based lesion assays using crude DNA extracts and primer sets COR1/2 (bacterial speck) and BSX1/2 (bacterial spot). All 29 pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strains tested produced a 689-bp amplicon with COR1/2; 28 of the 37 geographically diverse bacterial spot-causing xanthomonad (BSX) strains that were tested generated the 579-bp BSX1/2 amplicon. The detection limit with plant samples was 30 to 50 CFU/reaction. In a 6-year study, the COR1/2 PCR assay diverged from the culture-based classical assay for only 3 of 70 bacterial speck lesion samples collected from Ontario greenhouses and tomato fields; the BSX1/2 assay was positive for 112 of the 124 confirmed bacterial spot lesions sampled. The majority (66%) of the BSX strains isolated from these lesions belonged to group D; the 12 strains that were BSX1/2-negative belonged to group C. Group D strains produced a 425-bp PCR product with crude DNA extracts but a 579-bp product with purified DNA; the former was identical to the latter except that it was missing 150 bp from the middle of the 579-bp sequence.
More Related Videos
08:47Opsonophagocytic Killing Assay to Assess Immunological Responses Against Bacterial Pathogens
Published on: April 5, 2019
09:05Tomato Root Transformation Followed by Inoculation with Ralstonia Solanacearum for Straightforward Genetic Analysis of Bacterial Wilt Disease
Published on: March 11, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Defense Against Bacterial Pathogens
Phagocytes
Phagocytes are the frontline soldiers of the immune system. They include neutrophils and macrophages. Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cell and are quickly mobilized to the site of infection. Macrophages are larger cells that patrol...
Bacterial Transformation
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...
Bacterial Signaling
Bacterial RNA Polymerase
In most genes, the transcription site is a single base present upstream of the coding sequence. Though RNAP is a catalytically efficient enzyme, it does not recognize...
Bacterial Transcription
Transcription can be divided into three main stages, each involving distinct DNA sequences to guide the polymerase. These are:
Bacterial Flora of the Large Intestine
The normal gut flora of the colon plays a critical role in generating essential vitamins such as vitamins K, B5, and B7.