title: Selection of a set of specific primers for the identification of Tuber rufum: a truffle species with high genetic variability.
abstract: Tuber rufum is a truffle widely distributed throughout Europe, which forms mycorrhizal associations with numerous species of broadleaf and coniferous trees. The possibility of T. rufum contamination in commercial truffle-infected plants makes its detection important. To facilitate the identification of T. rufum from mycorrhiza and fruitbodies, species-specific primers were designed and tested. To overcome the high intraspecific genetic variability within the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of T. rufum, as demonstrated by phylogenetic analysis, two forward primers, Ru1f and Ru2f, located on the ITS1 region were designed to be used in concert with the reverse primer ITS4. Only T. rufum was amplified with this primer combination, while DNA of Tuber magnatum, Tuber brumale, Tuber maculatum, Tuber borchii, Tuber excavatum and Tuber melanosporum was not. These primers give a specific amplicon ranging between 566 and 572 bp and are able to discriminate between T. rufum, T. borchii and T. magnatum in multiplex PCR. In addition, T. rufum-specific amplicons were obtained from both spore suspensions and mycorrhiza by direct PCR. Tuber rufum mycorrhiza obtained in the greenhouse using mycelial inoculation techniques had morphological features similar to those of other species of Tuber, stressing the importance of molecular tools for their identification.
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iotti
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amicucci
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonito
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bonuso
authors.forename: Vilberto
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stocchi
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zambonelli
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D048690:Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer