Project Number: 1230-22000-022-10
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 19, 2005
End Date: Sep 01, 2010

Objective:
To develop sensitive and reliable detection methods for bacterial pathogens infecting herbaceous ornamental crops. These methods are intended to work as well with plant material as they do with in vitro cultures.

Approach:
Develop reagents, sampling procedures and protocols for the sensitive and reliable detection and differentiation of the plant pathogenic bacteria Agrobacterium and Rhodococcus. Develop PCR primer pairs that can distinguish between virulent isolates of A. tumefaciens and R. fascians from tissue incubated in broth or from fresh plant tissue. Determine appropriate tissue to sample to maximize detection of the pathogens. Determine how long R. fascians remains viable on plant surfaces. Inoculate indicator plants with R. fascians and re-isolate over time to determine fate of populations.