Construction and characterization of a cloned probe for the detection of Phoma tracheiphila in plant tissues

Summary The construction and characterization of the recombinant clone, pPhoB25 is described. This clone contains an highly repeated sequence of DNA from the fungus Phoma tracheiphila, a pathogen of the lemon. The specificity of the probe was determined by molecular hybridization with the DNA of the host plant and with those of several fungi which can be found associated with the lemon plants. The clone was used successfully as a specific and sensitive probe for the detection of the pathogen in infected plant tissues by dotblot hybridization under laboratory and field conditions.