Rapid Identification of Clavibacter michiganensis Subspecies sepedonicus Using Two Primers Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (TP-RAPD) Fingerprints

Twenty strains of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus from different geographic origins and other reference strains of the same and different species, including other potato pathogens, were analysed with a new procedure named TP-RAPD that originates fingerprints of bacterial species. This procedure uses two primers to amplify the 16S rDNA gene. At 45 °C of annealing, the PCR product electrophoresed in agarose gels produced a band pattern that was different in all bacterial species studied as well as in the subspecies of C. michiganensis. All strains of C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus displayed the same TP-RAPD number of pattern. Unlike Gram negative bacteria, Gram positives of high G + C content, such as Clavibacter, produced low bands in TP-RAPD. By using a different set of two primers also based in the 16S rDNA sequence from Escherichia coli a more adequate amplification of Gram positives of high G + C including a greater number of bands was obtained. TP-RAPD patterns using the new set of primers described in this work is a reliable and fast method to identify C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus.