A universal oligonucleotide microarray with a minimal number of probes for the detection and identification of viroids at the genus level.

oleh: Yongjiang Zhang, Jun Yin, Dongmei Jiang, Yanyan Xin, Fang Ding, Ziniu Deng, Guoping Wang, Xianfeng Ma, Fang Li, Guifen Li, Mingfu Li, Shifang Li, Shuifang Zhu

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01

Deskripsi

A major challenge in the agricultural industry is the development of techniques that can screen plant samples for viroid infection. Microarrays are promising in this regard, as their high throughput nature can potentially allow for the detection of a range of viroids in a single test. In this paper we present a microarray that can detect a wide spectrum of all 8 reported viroid genera including 37 known plant viroid species. The array was constructed using an automated probe design protocol which generated a minimal number of probes to detect viroids at the genus level. The designed microarray showed a high specificity and sensitivity when tested with a set of standard virus samples. Finally, the microarray was applied to screen infected field samples, with Hop stunt viroid infection identified as the major disease causing pathogen for an infected citrus sample.