Identification and Quantification of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum Infestation in Soil with a Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay

Student Name: Lauren Banks

UCD Department: Plant Pathology

UCD Mentor: Dr. Mike Davis

A real-time PCR protocol was developed to detect specific concentrations of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (FOV) race 4 in soil samples, using publicly available primers specific to FOV race 4. Environmental samples of equivalent spore concentrations from a range of 10^3-10^6 spores/ml were detected with this protocol. Soil spore concentrations in this range have been shown to cause Fusarium wilt; this protocol detected both artificially spiked samples as well as environmental samples within this critical range. Pending further validation, this protocol will serve as an appropriate means of testing soil and determining soil spore load.