Molecular detection of potato leaf roll polerovirus through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in dormant potato tubers

A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) technique was applied for the detection of potato leaf roll polerovirus (plrv) in dormant potato tubers. a primer pair was designed from the coat protein-encoding fragment of the plrv genome that amplified a 336-bp product. the amplified product was detected in nucleic acid preparations from leaves and tubers of 5 cultivars and from purified virions. the specificity of the rt-pcr product was confirmed through southern blot analysis. the primer pair used in the rt-pcr did not produce any nonspecific product from 7 other potato viruses. sensitivity of rt-pcr was confirmed by detecting plrv from known mixture of plrv and randomly selected potato virus. dilution of 1:1000- 1:4000 and 1:200-1:1000 were used to detect viral load from foliage and tuber,respectively. rtpcr efficiently detected plrv in sprouting tubers as well as dormant tubers stored at 20- 25°c for 4 months.