The Universal Primers Available for Detecting Eight Species in the Tospovirus Genus Occurring in Japan

Abstract

To develop an assay using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect multiple species of viruses in the Tospovirus genus, six primer pairs were chosen from those previously reported and tested to determine if RT-PCR with these primers could detect 8 species occurring in Japan. Consequently, two primer sets, gL2740/gL3920 or t2740/t3920c could detect all species occurring in Japan. The nucleotide residues of t2740 and t3920c were modified to correspond with each of the target sequences of 19 species reported outside Japan, except Groundnut chlorotic fan-spot virus. RT-PCR with the modified primer pair resulted in detecting the 8 species occurring in Japan, and was expected to be available for multiple species in the Tospovirus genus.