PCR detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, the causal agent of bacterial black node in barley and wheat, using newly designed primer sets

We designed two novel primer sets based on the sequence of the hrpZ gene to detect Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, the causal agent of bacterial black node in barley and wheat. A conventional PCR using these primers amplified only P. syringae group III strains. The result of a nested PCR with the novel primers showed that P. syringae pv. syringae was detectible even when only one culturable cell was used as the PCR template. This highly sensitive PCR detected P. syringae in diseased parts of wheat and barley plants and in asymptomatic plants.