Rapid Detection of Peach Shoot Blight Caused by Utilizing a New Target Gene Identified from Genome Sequences Within Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification.

Peach shoot blight (PSB), caused by , is a serious threat to the healthy development of the peach industry and leads to 30 to 50% damage to peach production in southern China. In this study, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology was used to detect the target of a gene of GME6801 that was unique in the whole genome of the pathogen compared with that of () TWH P74, PH-1, SMCG1 and 70-15. Blast comparison of this gene sequence in NCBI database showed that no homologous sequences were found. Therefore, the gene sequence of GME6801 was used to design two pairs of LAMP primers and one pair of PCR primers. The results showed that both primer sets were specific to the 15 strains of , and the other 15 fungal strains presented negative reactions, similar to the control. In addition, 50 pg of genomic DNA of in a 25-μl reaction system could be detected by LAMP assay, which was 100 times more sensitive than PCR. Furthermore, the GME6801 LAMP assay was used to detect artificially inoculated twigs of the pathogen, disease twigs within significantly symptomatic PSB in the fields, and healthy twigs in the same orchard, with detection rates of 100, 75, and 20.8%, respectively. However, detection rates of conventional PCR were separately 100, 62.5, and 16.7%. The results indicated that GME6801-based LAMP could be used for detection as its specificity, sensitivity, and simplicity. This study provides a rapid experimental basis for the identification and prediction of that causes PSB and is beneficial for precise prevention and control of the disease.