Development of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction for simultaneous detection of wheat viruses and a phytoplasma in China

Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDVs, mainly consisting of three strains, GAV, GPV and PAV, in China), barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV), wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV), wheat dwarf virus (WDV) and wheat blue dwarf phytoplasma (WBD) constitute a group of major wheat pathogens that have caused huge yield losses but are scarcely distinguished by their phenotype alone. For the simultaneous detection and discrimination of these seven pathogens in wheat, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) method was developed in this study through a series of parameter optimizations. Detection and sensitivity tests using samples collected from the field indicate that the M-PCR method can rapidly, simultaneously and relatively effectively detect BYDV-GAV, -GPV, -PAV, BSMV, WYMV, WDV and WBD.