Pest Management Science (2011) 67, 1124-1128

Yiping Hou, Qingquan Luo, Changjun Chen and Mingguo Zhou (2011)
Application of cycleave PCR to the detection of a point mutation (F167Y) in the β₂-tubulin gene of Fusarium graminearum
Pest Management Science 67 (9), 1124-1128
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Resistance of Fusarium graminearum to the benzimidazole fungicide carbendazim is caused by point mutations in the β₂-tubulin gene (FGSG_06611.3). The point mutation at codon 167 (TTT → TAT, F167Y) occurs in more than 90% of field isolates in China. It is important to find a suitable method for rapid detection and quantification of this point mutation in the F. graminearum populations.
RESULTS: A pair of primers, Codon167F/Codon167R, were designed to amplify a fragment containing the mutation site, and two cycling probes labelled with different fluorescent reporters were used to detect whether the mutation was present. A cycleave real-time PCR method was developed for rapid determination of the frequency of this point mutation in 282 F. graminearum perithecia collected from different fields in Jiangsu Province, China. The mutation frequency in ascospores from the perithecia to carbendazim by a spore germination assay was 6.0%, while the frequency of the point mutation at codon 167 by the cycleave real-time PCR assay was 3.9%.
CONCLUSION: The cycleave real-time PCR method is suitable for accurate detection of the codon 167 point mutation. The frequency of this mutation in the β₂-tubulin gene represents the resistance frequency in F. graminearum populations to carbendazim.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Ming-Guo Zhou, Chang-Jun Chen, Yiping Hou

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes
pesticide resistance of pest

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Fusarium graminearum		China (NE)