Amplification of Paulownia Phytoplasma DNA Fragments by Random Primed-PCR

Abstract

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect genomic differences between healthy and paulownia witches'-broom (PaWB)-affected paulownia plants using fifteen primer-pair combinations derived from five randomly synthesized primers based on the P1-like adhesin gene sequence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Upon comparing the PCR product profiles between healthy and PaWB-affected paulownia DNA samples, three types of PCR profiles were observed. Firstly, some bands were amplified from both healthy and PaWB-affected paulownia DNA samples; secondly, some DNA bands were amplified only from PaWB-affected paulownia DNA samples; thirdly, a few DNA bands were amplified only from healthy paulownia DNA samples. DNA amplified from PaWB-affected paulownia DNA samples hybridized only with PaWB-affected paulownia DNA samples, suggesting the DNA was derived from paulownia phytoplasma genome.