Trials of Identification of Rhizoctonia solani AG 1 IA, the Causal Agent of Rice Sheath Disease, Using Specifically Primed PCR Analysis in Diseased Plant Tissues

Abstract

Identification and diagnosis of Rhizoctonia solani AG 1 IA, component of the rice sheath-blight disease is extremely difficult for R. solani AG 2-2 IIIB, R. oryzae, R. oryzae-sativae and R. fumigata, the rice sheath-blight like diseases, and often inaccurate and as a result may hinder the success of extensive breeding programmers throughout Asia. In this study, primers designed from unique regions within the rDNA internal transcribed spacers have been used to develop a rapid PCR-based diagnostic test to provide an accurate identification of the R. solani AG 1 IA pathogen on rice tissues and paddy field soils, Tests on the specificity of the primers concerned showed that they provide the means for accurate identification of the pathogen responsible for sheath blight disease in rice and paddy field soils.