Simultaneous Detection of Four Banana Viruses by Multiplex PCR

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) and Banana streak virus (BSV) are four viruses known to infect banana corp. On the basis of the establishment of the optimal PCR and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for the detection of a single virus, a quadruplex RT-PCR method that employed virus-specific primers was developed for the simultaneous detection and differentiation of all the four viruses in banana. Several sets of primers for each target virus were evaluated for their sensitivity and specificity by simplex and quadruplex RT-PCR. The assay was then validated using banana samples infected with one or more viruses collected from fields and tissue-culture banana industries in Hainan Island.