Financed by Chinese National Natural Science Foundation, a team, led by Prof. LI Jianqiang at China Agriculture University Dept. of Plant Pathology, has developed a molecular approach to quickly pick out tomato ulcer bacteria, making reliable evidences available for diagnosing the diseases in the fields.

Researchers established a quick and sensitive molecular method to test tomato ulcer bacteria, based on the optimized PCR reaction condition, sensitivity, and specificity. They developed the EMA-PCR techniques to tell the live and dead bacteria, and sorted out highly sensitive and specific primers to cover more than 100 bacteria strains employed in the study, which expands the applicable scope of the test, compared with the design made on plasmid.

Researchers also worked out the real-time EMA-PCR process able to tell the activity of pathogenic bacteria, making the test of affected seeds, especially live bacteria possible. Additionally, they applied for the first time the EMA-DNA dual chain dye in detecting plants' pathogenic bacteria, and developed a nucleic acid based PCR test technique able to tell the activity of pathogenic bacteria.